Old Friends
So a couple of weeks ago we had the Life Celebration for my friend Tony who died from MS complications. It was wonderful and weird all at the same time seeing old friends who I hadn’t gotten together with in ten years. It was bizarrely wonderful.
When my cousin Jason and I first arrived, the bar looked pretty dead. We walked up to the doorman and he said, “15 bucks to see the show.” What show, you may ask? It was a male review. Yes, cheesy half-naked men dancing to old Salt N Peppa tunes. I knew at that exact moment that Tony was there–and laughing his ass off at the prank he had already pulled and it was only 8 pm.
It was at that moment that Jay remembered that several friends from our group were meeting for dinner at the Indian restaurant next door before the celebration. So we passed on the male review and headed over to Tandoori Times Indian Bistro.
As we walked in and scoped out the dining room a rush of nostalgia hit me when I saw them–my old friends, partners in crime. 8 of them sat around a large, round table, finishing up their drinks and reminiscing about the years past. They all looked so much older, yet still the same. Sure, some were carrying a few extra pounds or a few new wrinkles, but they were still had the same core.
One thing that was completely different, however, was the conversation at the table. Bill was notorious within our group for one fateful evening when I convinced him and his roommate Clint to get naked in the back seat of Tony’s car as we drove down Mill Avenue to their house after some serious bar hopping. Grossness ensued once we arrived at their home that scarred my brain forever, but I’ll spare anyone reading this the salty-but-good details.
My point is, Bill was one of the craziest guys in our crew. Yet that night, 10 years later, he sat and discussed his pregnant wife and breastfeeding. Mmm-hmm. Who could have ever predicted that one day we’d all be sitting around and discussing boobies in a functional rather than fashionable sense?
Once we headed back over to the bar the male review was over (thank god!) and everyone else started arriving. We had drinks, caught up on careers, spouses and children, and told stories that had me nearly peeing my pants in laughter.
Even though we had all grown up, and somehow turned into responsible citizens and parents, our hearts were the same. I guess some bonds are too strong to ever be broken. And I’m sure Tony was smiling when we all lifted our glasses and toasted him. After all, he was the reason why we were all friends in the first place. It was too fitting how he pulled us all back together, even with naked men in the background, for one more hurrah.
December 4th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
This post made me smile