Stages

There used to be a time when getting together with friends meant drinking heavily, eating crap food, and sleeping the next day until noon (or later). My friends and I have obviously entered a new stage in our relationship. It probably happened years ago, and we just never acknowledged it. Cyndi and I have the oldest of the children in our circle of friends, but we are not the oldest in the group.

The first part is not necessarily true. Brian and Kim, who have been together the longest (21 years by my count), but married the year after Cyndi and I got hitched, and are younger than me, have two children relatively the same age as Frederic and Lily. Cullen is three months older than Frederic, and Emma is four months younger than Lily. We actually have not seen Cullen and Emma in years. We've seen Brian; he's our family doctor (nothing below the waist for me, of course). But life gets in the way, I guess, and we just have not had the opportunity to get the kids together. Which is sad, really. To have a boy and a girl the same age in a group of kids that range from nine t0 one year, is a gift. The kids that are older can just go and play, or be the "leaders" for the others. It just hasn't happened.

We had a small gathering today. It was scheduled several weeks ago, and nothing elaborate. We didn't extend it out to everyone in our group for a couple of reasons: 1) Getting dates that work for everyone is a chore in and of itself; 2) Sophia is turning one next week, and I didn't want to detract from people joining her celebration.

Today was more for the girls. Frederic was the lone boy amongst five children. The girls immediately made a connection, but the age difference also meant that the parents of the younger kids had to be more attentive than Cyndi and me. I felt bad for them because it's nice to be at this stage.

The case of beer that was brought is only missing a few. The bottle of wine that was opened is still half full. The "bags" game that was pretty much ignored.

Life has changed, but that's a good thing. We've all made it through, and I'm looking forward to others.