…The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” Charles Dickens

There comes a certain point in your career that you realize it’s just…for me it’s cars for you it might be banking or retail or something other than what should be most important in your life.  One of the biggest regrets of the dying is the fact that they put business ahead of everything else. They were Ebenezer Scrooged…I won’t ever have that problem. When I travel for business I make sure that I have friends or family in the vicinity, I plan ahead so that I can spend time with them not at a laptop in a hotel room eating room service each night although room service and a hot bath aren’t entirely out of the question.

This week I had the pleasure of traveling to Atlanta on business.  I came in just a bit early so that I could introduce myself to my newest old friend.  I didn’t realize she would be a new old friend but I had a hunch. We lunched over our work not the other way round.  We would be spending the next three days together and they would turn out to be as delightful as she is.

I had originally intended to have dinner with a dear friend of mine who was stuck in with the flu, what a disappointment but a Godsend also.  My nephew was trying to get someone to cover his shift for the Friday we had planned to get together but it just wasn’t coming together, this cancellation saved the day and we had a wonderful three hour dinner and catch up.  Spending time one on one away from the family is so much different and I learned just what a cool guy he is, he taught me much in that three hours and I can’t wait to continue where we left off.  Who knows when, who knows where but I know like I know it will happen.

My Summer Sister Kyle has a myriad of former students that come and go and always remember her fondly.  Some of them are still in her life and some of them are also in my life.  I’ve always loved the way that seasons her legacy and come to find out I have a host of “former students” myself.  There were two meetings happening simultaneously and many of the attendees of the other meeting had worked with me before, it became a reunion of sorts between those “boys”, as I call them, and me.  Listening to the funny stories and hearing the gratitude was so heartwarming and unexpected.  I think the world of each of them and now I realize they feel the same toward me.  I long ago stopped wondering what people think of me, it’s really none of my business, but when you find out in such an uplifting fashion there is truly nothing like it.

After my meeting I planned to have dinner with one of my oldest friends, we stopped counting the years after thirty, and when we sat down together we just picked up right where we left off.  I am blessed to have many old friends, people who have known and loved me over many many years but some just feel like they’ve lived in your soul your entire life.

The day before flying back home I worked with my new collegue and cemented our friendship once and for all before she made her way back home. Remember that room service and a bath thing…my final night, filled with memories of my time in Atlanta, rested and ready to get back home.  I tend to travel on my own, I like the flexibility and the reflection it allows me.

I set out early the next morning when no one was around, I had an uneventful flight home, and watched the sun come up over Atlanta.  Thank you Atlanta, I don’t know that I’ll see you again but I appreciated your hospitality.

As we begin our decent into Newark I can’t help wondering if Toto is talking to me.  It’s been a string of heartbreak, painful Vet visits and hasty departures.  I wouldn’t blame her if she never spoke to me again.  Apparently, she’s a forgiving kinda girl, it’s good to be back on my beloved Stowe Lane with memories of my family, and old friends…even the new one.