Circles and Triangles

Last night I went to my friend Josh's 30th birthday party. I am pretty open about things on my blog, but I've never talked about Josh and I am not sure I really ever will. There are still things in my past that I hold very deep inside, that are still painful to think about.

I also don't like to be coy on my blog, hinting at some amazing story then proclaiming, "Oh! I can't talk about it." So I will just summarize. Josh and I dated. Josh and Erik were friends. Josh and I broke up in a spectacularly painful way. Erik and I started dating. Erik and Josh were then no longer friends any more.

Then there is Mike. Mike dated my sister for many years. We were all friends. Mike was the best man at our wedding. He and my sister broke up (also in a spectacularly painful way) right before my wedding. Awkwardness abounded and eventually Mike and Erik were no longer friends any more either. At some point in all this drama, Mike and Josh were also no longer friends any more.

I had not talked to Josh in many many years when Erik & I saw him again at their high school reunion about two years ago. Josh had married his high school sweetheart and they were expecting their first child. I talked for a long time with his wife and we have emailed occasionally since then. About the same time, Erik reconnected with Mike through MySpace. They started hanging out again.

So Josh's 30th birthday party was yesterday night. His wife invited us, and also asked us if we knew how to contact Mike. It had been so many years, she said - it's time to make peace and find the old friends we've lost over stupid things that just don't seem so big any more.

It was so much fun. We met Mike and his girlfriend a little bit early and the four of us spent some time having a few drinks and catching up before meeting the rest of the party. There was no drama, no awkwardness. It was just so nice to see people that we knew and loved, but just got disconnected from along the way.

We ended up at the Hustler Club, because it just isn't a party without a trip to the strip club!! I had to take a moment and soak it in. There were Josh, Erik and Mike, watching their wives/girlfriends pass dollar bills to the strippers with their teeth. We were laughing and buying each other drinks and talking about how we all became adults somewhere along the way. We have mortgages and kids and careers. It's just crazy how much time has gone by.

Driving home, I was so glad that we went. Josh's wife was absolutely right - it really was time to let the past go. Damn, we had forgotten how much FUN we always had together. We can't wait to do it again soon.