Three Amigos

This weekend, Jude and the boys are in Charlotte to see her brother, James, and his wife (Megan) and their children.

One of my oldest and best friends, Doug B., is driving to Nashville and is going to stay with me. One of my other oldest and best friends, Mike M., is going to come up from Franklin.  We're going to watch football today - probably in East Nashville - drink a lot of beer, and just spend time together.  Tomorrow night, we've got reservations for dinner in Germantown.

The three of us had planned to go away for the weekend but we never put it all together.  It was important to us to get together, in large part because we've all had a difficult year.

I lost my mom, of course.  Doug had major back surgery.  Mike lost his stepmother, who actually was  in the Courtyard at NHC Place, where my mom was before she died.  Also, Mike recently helped move his mom into a assisted living and memory care facility.

The three of us have been there for each other forever, or so it seems.  Through a terrible car accident that took the life of Doug's mother when we were in high school, weddings, divorces, illnesses, struggles with our children and the deaths of our parents, we've supported each other.  Sometimes, we drive each other crazy, but when life happens, we're together, the three of us.

So many happy times and good memories with these guys over, I guess, four decades.  Crazy.

This weekend, we'll laugh.  Boy, will we laugh.  I think we'll reflect, too.  And listen and give advice.  We'll watch football.  We'll drink beer together.  Then, we'll laugh some more.

Recently, it occurred to me that perhaps a measure of success in a man's life is how many people he has in his circle who can make him laugh.  I mean, really laugh.  I have these two guys and, luckily, several others.

And that's a good thing.  A special thing.