Family Ties

I was supposed to have dinner at Rolf's last night, a crazy , over the top German restaurant with my "sister in law" Dot. It's decorated like a Christmas tree that's been flattened and pressed on to the walls and ceiling but I guess we weren't the only ones to have this idea, it was mobbed and even tho we had reservations we couldn't get far enough into the restaurant to tell the host we were there. They put ton's of decorations in the doorway too, making the entrance/exit smaller, which made it kind of feel like a firetrap. I had been there once before during Christmas and had an incredibly fun, crazy, beer fueled dinner with my brother who lives in Costa Rica named, Rolf. He was visiting one Christmas when a 1.3 megapixal digital camera was the size of a Walkman and considered "state of the art". That was a while ago.

Dot and I had a nice walk around the neighborhood, catching up on our various relatives, learning a little bit about each other, I told her about my upcoming trip to Brazil and the incredible circumstances that made it happen, and Dot told me about what it was like to be a personal trainer, and her life with her husband Jack. I don't even remember how long I've known Dot for, but this is the first time we've done anything together, just the two of us. We found a new restaurant called Smith and had a really nice dinner that we both enjoyed.

But the amazing thing was that there wasn't a moment of silence, we couldn't wait to share all these stories of our lives, marvel at the similarities and differences and I was blown away by how lucky I am to get to know this really cool person!

The whole reason I know Dot is through Bill. Bill and I are ex-boyfriends, we were together for 8 years and 5 years ago we decided to split, well, I'm simplifying this, but let's just leave it at that for now. But the really cool thing is that Bill and all of Bill's family realized how much I liked being a part of this Family in addition to my own blood relatives out in the Midwest (and Costa Rica) who I love dearly and think about all the time. But Bill's siblings and Mom and sister in law Dot never stopped calling me, sending me birthday cards, inviting me up for Christmas and Bill has become one of my closest, deepest friends. We talk on the phone all the time, share notes on guys we've met (when I told Bill I was thinking of going to Brazil to see Eduardo, Bill's immediate response was an enthusiastic "Go for it!") and most importantly, we've been there witnessing each other's lives for a long time now, we can be pretty sharp observers of our patterns of behaviour, good and bad. Bill has become one of the wisest, kindest, smartest and most importantly, brutally honest friends i could ever have. He and his family are a big part of why I say I'm the luckiest guy alive.