Where to begin when you haven't seen a friend for 11 years? Why not start over a drink at a historic place you've never visited!
Marge and I met 35 years ago and loved talking about TV when we should have being paying attention in class. Last weekend, when we met for drinks and dinner, we spent a lot more time discussing our families and our kids (whom we at least had seen, thanks to social media!).
It's funny to think about how in high school Marge and I talked about The Wonder Years (which aired its first episode right after the Super Bowl) - a show that looked back at childhood years - and now we are the age of the Daniel Stern voiceover. A lot has changed, not just our personal lives.
The Stonewall Uprising was 14 months before I was born. As I near the half-century mark, I need to remember that I have been an out gay man for only 21 years of that. Thankfully, for many today, the path to being out is much easier - with gratitude to those who began the march to equality in 1969 at Stonewall. It was an honor to drink a beverage there, and visit for the first time in my life.
And, it was particularly special to do so with an old friend, and then grab dinner. How appropriate that the place we ate dinner happened to be in the building which is the exterior of the Friends apartment!
We talked for hours and hours. I even missed the first 45 minutes of the Emmys - which I never could have done back in high school when Marge and I first met. I'm looking forward to connecting with many more old (and new) friends over the next 11 months as I continue my 50x50 journey. Who's next?
