Reunions

And there they were.

Two teammates from my college days. Two friends I haven’t seen since. They both looked different and yet they both looked just as I remembered.

The Facebook caption said it all. “High School Competitors, College Teammates (Adelphi University) …. Friends. 30 years and it feels like it is 1990.”

They reunited at a baseball camp in New York. Little did they know that Facebook post would reunite even more.

Comments from some of my other teammates filled the post (yes, I commented too), and I am sure we were all smiling yesterday as we relived those amazing days. It was just like we were all together again. Laughing, teasing, reminiscing. Winning championships. Losing heartbreaks. I wished I could’ve been there too. But in some way, I was. We all were. The Adelphi Panthers Baseball team was virtually reunited from afar. It was long overdue, and it felt great!

“We’re going to have fun tonight!”

The words shouted down the hall as my friend came to meet me for a trip to the bar. It’s not like we’ve never done this before. Actually, we go every couple of weeks. And of course, its fun. I thought about her words for a bit but resolved that she was just being nice.

Three quarters into my first beer and she pointed over my shoulder, suggesting I turn around. Walking up was another old friend, a former neighbor, who we hadn’t seen in almost two years. She used to join us for drinks before she moved and as what often happens to most, if not all of us, we lost touch.

Now I knew what my friend meant. This was going to be fun.

We reunited over drinks and caught up on all of our events, good and bad, from the past couple of years. There was so much to share, so much we had missed out on, and we relived it all over a few more rounds. It was like old times.

My friend was right. We had a ton of fun. That reunion was long overdue, and it felt great!

So, how’ve you all been? I know, it’s been a while.

I hope you’ve been having your own reunions as we put the past year and a half behind us. The blur of that time has hit us all in varying ways. And you all know I am obsessed with the impact of time. How we use it. How we waste it. Hopefully we all learned to not take it for granted. (Yeah, I know, I’ve said that too.)

But while we’re all having our own reunions with family, friends, activities. There’s another reunion to make sure I had. My reunion with all of you.

I’m sure you’ve been wondering what’s been going on in the life of this average Joe. Ok, so maybe you haven’t been wondering much about that, but I thought I’d catch you up.

You might remember “The Moment”. One of my first posts about the single most impactful moment of your life. I’m convinced we all have one and I ended that post hinting about my Moment with the words “Chapter One.” Well, I’m fourteen chapters in and I think only a couple more to go. It’s definitely not easy writing a book. Countless times I’ve hit a wall and almost bagged it. But then I get on a little roll, and it comes back to life. I can’t promise I won’t hit another wall along the rest of the way, but the end is out there, and for the first time I think I see it.

I took a new opportunity and joined a technology firm to head up their risk management team. It’s been great working with amazing people and being part of building something bigger. I have been learning so much, every day, and it’s such a nice feeling to contribute to the firm’s growth and success.

And I’ve even done some travelling. Mostly for work to my firm’s North Carolina offices, but I also took a little jaunt down to Key West. Several days of Bars, Burgers, Beers, and Bands. Right up my alley! I met people from all over and also met people who were no more than two degrees of separation (it really is a small world). If you haven’t been there, I highly recommend it.

It was great to catch up with all of you. I know, this reunion was long overdue. But it feels like we never parted, and we really did pick up right where we left off. I’ll do my best to not make it so long again.