Giving thanks (as always)

It's that time; tomorrow is that day - my one and only favorite holiday; the one I keep near and dear and hold sacred.  There's no agenda; no gifts, etc. - just the joy of quiet; spending it with people you love and care about.  A good meal; warm conversation and a chance to actually reflect on things.  Thanksgiving is about mental/spiritual cataloguing for me.

This year has been one of many ups-and-downs for some of my friends; it's been fraught with frustration, uncertainty and sadness.  For some, it seems the clouds are lifting; for others, the road is getting a little clearer, but they haven't reached their destination.  For them, I wish calm, clarity, peace and ultimately, joy on their way.  I know they'll get to where they need to be - I have faith in them, but mostly, a lot of love and respect.

I'm thankful for everything.  And everyone who is part of my life and my heart.

Time momentarily stood still...

I had the opportunity a few months ago to get together with some old friends.  These were the people I spent five-plus years with in the Atlantic Records art department.  Several weren't there and I wish they were; it would have made the night complete - I acutely felt their absences.  Hopefully, there will be more of these gatherings in the not-distant future; the last time I was with some of the group, it was 2010.  I couldn't join them in 2016, as I was away that week.  But it made me stop and think about several things:  even though it's eighteen years since we left (and 23, since I first came aboard), I love these people just as much now as I did then; I certainly appreciate them even more than I did when we were all together - that department was as much of a "family" as you could want/hope for.  And we left that job together; collectively, as a family.

What struck me so hard was that some of us hadn't seen one another in over 20 years and yet, somehow, we managed to pick up where we'd left off; others, we just fell right back into our old conversational patterns.  An amazing thing to me, as I'm usually inclined to think there may be some discomfort or self-consciousness - after all, with so many years having passed, what are we going to talk about?  I left there at 36; I'm 54 now - certainly, we're not the same people we were then?  No, we aren't - and none of us are in the "professional" music business any longer.  But we're together in the here and now and it's easy to pick up where we'd left off because we're older, calmer, care enough to share where our lives have taken us and at the core, there's still a endless amount of warmth and affection to bring us back to where we belonged.

I was thinking about this is as I'd started writing this piece the day after, but somehow forgot to complete it.  As I was scrolling through my Facebook profile page, I came across the photos of that night and realized I hadn't given this wonderful moment its due.  So with apologies and a lot of love, I'm doing so now.  Certainly, it's another one of those moments in life when you can think about a particular moment and the emotions can be wonderfully overwhelming.