Blessed

Every once in a while each of us have our hearts pricked to remind us just how blessed we are.  I would like to think that happens to me more times than not.  I try to live my life in gratitude.  It is, in my opinion, a choice to be grateful and if the choice is made and adhered to, it is a choice that brings great happiness.  Nonetheless, throughout life we have experiences that remind us and I am fortunate to have such a reminder once a month. 

Everybody who knows my family knows I was blessed with pretty awesome parents and a couple pretty okay brothers too.  In addition to my family, I was blessed with a great circle of friends.  Now, I was friends with pretty much everybody and that shouldn't be a hard stretch to imagine, but I had a tight circle of friends otherwise that helped me navigate my adolescence with confidence and help.  These friends helped my family shape me to be the man, husband, father and friend I am today and, for the most part, they continue to influence my life.

Once a month, usually on the 3rd Thursday of the month, I get together with a few of these buddies to break bread, reminisce about the "good ole' days" and share stories about our families (now and then).  It is a constant reminder to me just how good I had it.  It is a constant reminder to me just how important good friends are.  It is a constant reminder to me of the type of man I was raised to be and need to be.  My only complaint is that these friends set the bar so damn high!  They are good men and I'm blessed to know them. 

 

Lunch with some of the guys.  L to R:  Mont, Me, Mike and Aaron

The list is long, but for fear of leaving anybody out, I won't list them, but I'm sure they know who they are. 

 

Thanks, guys.