Oakwood Homes

This week, we are traveling to the wonderful city of Grand Forks, ND, home of my college alma mater and really good grinders. We will be descending upon Lin and Carolyn's, and along with about fifteen of my best friends on this planet, we'll turn their house into a three day commune of drunken fellowship.

This reunion of friends--half of which I have known my entire conscious life--has gained some steam over the last couple of years as we have come to realize the incredible zen of our group. Old friends see past all pretenses, insecurities, and less-than-perfect pasts. They are not impressed with wallet sizes, business portfolios, or financial net-worths. What you may or may not own is all baggage, left at the door.

There are much more important priorities among old friends (I will address the subject of "priorities" in another post), like: Can Randy out arm wrestle Darin? Will Lin's Bloody Marys still hold the best mixed drink award? Or will Ron's Beaver Dams or Berta's new found Duck Farts take the title away? And deep questions will be pondered, like: What is the true meaning of success? And, where the hell are the Popsicles?

Some notable people aren't going to be able to make it this time: Scooter, Brad, Wendy, Robert Zimmerman. But they will make up for it next time.


And, no doubt, there will be a next time. The plans will start out very realistic, like: WeFest, Randy's house, or Minneapolis. Then, as the drinks start to take effect, they will become semi-realistic: Spring Training in Arizona, a resort in the Bahamas, a cruise. Then, when we get to the "it sure seemed like a good idea last night" phase, the future get-together plans will turn into total madness, like: Let's just permanently move into Lin and Carolyn's. Or, let's plan ahead and book our retirement, rooms at Oakwood Homes (Karlstad's Senior independent living facility).