Auld Lang Syne

This weekend Claudia and I drove down to Philadelphia to see some old friends. They are buddies of mine from college and their wives. We had drinks and dinner and lots of remembering.

There are friends from my younger days that I keep in touch with on a more regular basis. Geography plays a major role in this. Nonetheless, we settled into our friendships very nicely. It was not unlike putting on those old pair of sneakers you loved so much. It just fit.

Much has happened to us all over the years. Marriage, children, hair loss and weight gain. We're all in places now that is far different from the world in which we knew each other.

We lived together for anywhere between three and four years. We saw each other every day -- good days and bad. We drank together, got in trouble together, probably collected enough blackmail on each other that none of us could ever run for office. And probably shared some of the best times of our lives together.

Later in the evening, we drove back to the friends' house where we were staying the night. They had the lights on the tree and the four of us talked -- really talked. The good old days, we all agreed, were every bit as good as we'd remembered them.

And not one of us would trade our lives today to go back there. Not one.

Perhaps that is the most wonderful thing about Auld Lang Syne. You can't go back. And that only makes the memories all the more special.