Old Friends

I recently returned from a week-long vacation in Hawaii. It will be my last major trip for a while for reasons as yet unstated. I attended the wedding of a dear college friend, someone that I've known for nearly thirteen years. I guess that's not a long time, but then again, neither is a lifetime. The wedding was also a reunion of sorts, as two other college friends came, and it was the last time that all four of us were together since my wedding seven years ago. These three amazing people and their spouses really helped me realize that friendship is the most valuable possession one can have. Thanks, friends.

On that note, tomorrow I'll be headed to beautiful sunny Fresno to see Simon and Garfunkel. I took my parents to see them last November for my mom's birthday, and I don't expect anything new, different, revelatory, or any other redundant adjective to describe what I'll see. However, S&G will dazzle me with Paul's exquisite lyrics, Art's angelic voice, and the (probably) last opportunity to see two musicians that have left an indelible mark on my life. While I'm not going to suddenly turn into Jan Hooks on that SNL episode from years back, I do place the concert in the context of my trip and the strengthening of the friendships that have meant so much to me

Old friends
sat on their park bench like bookends
can you imagine us years from today?
sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange to be seventy

time it was and what a time it was...
a time of innocence, a time of confidences

long ago...it must be...I have a photograph
preserve your memories; they're all that's left you.

Simon and Garfunkel, Old Friends/Bookends