Is it a new week?

I have returned. It has been an interesting weekend but I won't get into it. I guess I will. I had the great fortune to attend the wedding of a very good friend of mine here in Toronto. He is from Toronto but now lives in San Francisco. He had moved out west, Vancouver, about ten years ago. The funny thing is that he married a woman from Toronto. He had met her in the San Franscisco airport when they were both flying to Toronto.

I was quite happy for him and them. This was a guy I did not think would get married. He has had a life full of interesting experiences. He has spent a lot of time abroad. He has spent time in Japan, Korea, China, India, Thailand and South America. He has not spent much time, that I know of, in Europe. He is an avid rock climber and mountain trekker having trekked through Nepal during his Asian tour of 1988-1990.

The funniest thing, I found, about his wedding was that of all his friends, my wife and myself were the only ones from Toronto, who still reside in Toronto. We were at a table with people from the Bay area, Vancouver and somewhere in the US. I know his other table had folks from all over the US. I guess that says something about our friendship. I mean I have seen him when comes to Toronto, but he has NEVER seen or met my 8 year old son, which is something that I am not sure I understand. I do not see it as anything negative, it is more the fact that he is living his life and the he can find time for me when he is in, but not necessarily the time I would imagine or want.

Again, this is is not something I view as negative. It is what it is. He has always marched to his own drummer and I do as well, so I have a great admiration and respect for what he does, who he is and what he has become. I was the only person at the wedding, save for his family, that could say I knew him in high school. That is where we became friends and it continued through our university days. Even when he went off to school, after his second year at the University of Toronto, we stayed in touch and I visited him at the University of Western Ontario. The only year that I did not visit, was my first in law school during the 1986-7 school year.

I had not seen his family in over ten years. I had talked to his father as recently as about five years ago, but had not seen him since Dave moved to Vancouver in the summer of 1995. It was great to see his parents and sister again. I always enjoyed his family as they were and are warm and inviting people. His brother, Mark, who is a year younger, was a more difficult person for me to see. I was friends with Mark in his own right as well as part of a "team" with his brother Dave. They always seemed to get along, though I would say that Mark had the quicker wit, or at least the desire to speak up and make it known. They played well together.

I, somehow, due to indifference both mine and his, had not seen Mark since at least the early 90s. It was most certainly before I was married in 1993. I am not sure how that occurred but then again, I had let too many friendships sort of drift in that time. I would say it was a symptom of my own depression and finding solace, either alone or with people who were as miserable or moreso than I. I have learned that lesson and will continue to avoid the isolation trap as I continue my life journey.

I think that I am done with this entry. I do want to wish all the best and my support, for what it is worth, if and when things get tough, to David and Natalie. I would extend that to David's whole family as well. I have nothing but good things to say about these people and that is a testament to how they have ACTED in this life.

I should say that I did get to go out for dinner on Wednesday with David and Mark and Willie. It was Willie's first Dave sighting, let alone Mark, since at least 1995, though Dave had been in Toronto a number of times since he moved. The last I had SEEN Dave was September 13, 2001. I remember it because I sent him an email right after the towers collapsed on 9/11. He called me and told me he was in town, so we did lunch. I had not seen Mark and it was great to see him on Wednesday as well. I guess that is all that I want to say right now.