Bro Time

"It is a lovely thing to go out with friends from different lifetimes and watch them enjoy each other."

A Facebook friend posted that the other day and I couldn't help but think of it when I hosted a poker game this weekend.  

OK, so it wasn't exactly four friends from different lifetimes but they did evoke memories of different places and experiences.

There was John, a bowling buddy and a youngish dad whose wife, a registered dietitian, briefly subcontracted some of the space in Lori's gym for a solo practice. Andrea has moved on to other work but I'm glad I'm become friends with John, who's among the most outgoing, disarming people I've ever known.

There was Jon, who I met in Salem some 30 years ago when his wife was a veterinarian and Lori was a veterinary assistant (yes, she's done a few things in the world of work). The husbands inevitably got together and we've remained friends despite our now living 45 miles apart from each other. Jon's a baseball fan (gave me a cool Marineros cap) and a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to work and hobbies.

There was Bob, who I also have known 30 or so years  -- actually, it's 31, because his son Chris and our oldest son, Nathan, were born two days apart in the same hospital in Salem. His wife, Deborah,, and Lori met there as new moms and when we bumped into them a few weeks at the same restaurant it seemed like destiny that we'd become a great foursome.

And then there was Tom, whom I just wrote about last month as my Monday morning breakfast partner. We go back to college days, as his girlfriend Elsa was Lori's roommate then. (Gee, there's a Lori connection in all of these friendships...) Tom lives in Portland and we've seen each other get married and become a dad.

It was immensely satisfying to be in the company of these great friends -- and better still to see them get along so well with each other. I got emails from each one of them commenting on that very thing. 

Lori had dinner with friends, then went to the Starlight Parade. Yet she helped me set things up for the evening, and managed to return home early enough (as in midnight) to be able to say hello to everyone. 

This weekend delivered the warmest weather of the year and I spent a big chunk of it inside, working both Saturday and Sunday shifts to make up for taking an extra day off for Memorial Day). So it was a nice break right in the middle to have an evening full of pizza, beer, brownies, guy jokes and great conversation.

As the game crossed over into Sunday morning, we played one last hand that produced one honkin' jackpot -- at least by our meager nickel-dime-quarter stakes -- and it was fitting that Tom won the hand because Sunday was his birthday. 

Until next time...

Photo: GFKPoker