I feel home,
when I see the faces that remember my own.
I feel home,
when I'm chilling outside with the people I know.
I feel home,
and that's just what I feel.
Home to me is reality,
and all I need is something real.
Well in the end we can all call a friend
well that's something I know as true.
And then a thousand years and a thousand tears
I'll come finding my original crew
cause to me throughout eternity
there's somewhere where you're welcome to go
I said it's something free that means a lot to me
when I'm with my friends I feel home.
*************************************
How I wish I could take credit for these lyrics. But I can’t. So I won’t. I will just say how they perfectly capture that night….
It’s the last weekend before the girls return. I have had some good times going out, and some pure, peaceful moments of solitude, and relished in them both. But this last weekend was one of those magical times when it all seems to come together- a destiny of moments that call out to be remembered in future nights with those that shared in its magic.
Time with friends is always special, but when close friends end up relocating to Nashville (a convenient 3 hour commute away), one of their favorite bands are playing at a venue I have been wanting to check out, and oh, and it’s his 39 birthday, well, as they say, it’s a done deal.
C & J, or CJ as we will affectionately refer to them here, are “those” type of friends; the ones who I love and adore as individuals, but together as a couple they are special. The type of friends that you go months (or perhaps even years) without talking to and pick up right where you left off. Friends that call you that nickname that you haven’t heard since the last time you saw them. Friends you have known for life, or at least you feel like you do. And regardless of the plans, or lack thereof, you know you will have a great time just because you are together.
CJ arrive Friday night, and we laugh at how we have both clearly anticipated the end of the world as we have prepared enough food and beer for the next apocalypse. Another “I immediately connect with you” friend (and awesome dog) join us that night for an evening of “OMGwhathaveyoubeendoingtellmeeverything”. We casually sit around the kitchen table, loosing track of time and glasses of sangria, noshing on snacks until the lateness of the night takes over and we know we have to give in because there is yet another night of fun and catching up to be had. And after goodbyes and goodnights you realize that your cheeks are slightly sore because you have been smiling and laughing for the past countless hours.
The next day is an event. We head out to one of my favorite local breweries, but what makes it special is that yet another feels like life-long friend joins us for the fun. After taking in some local flavor (aka- seasonal release craft brew) we head downtown for dinner. Soon the 5 of us are together, friends new and old, all sitting around a table during senior citizen dining hours at a wonderful Atlanta restaurant, without a care in the world as we share dishes, stories and friendship. What amazes me most about this moment is the ease of it all; here, I am surrounded by people I have known for almost 40 years to only a few, and yet we all get along so effortlessly. We all seem to share the same fundamental approach to life, and are having fun in this moment; comrades in arms.
We head over to the concert- the venue is amazing. On old church, clearly with a storied past, the unique beauty of how the light filters through the stained glass windows, now reinvented, living a new life. I immediately relate.
We stake our claim on the main floor, and listen to some music that you can’t believe is just the opening act. Then suddenly, captured by an all-encompassing sound that, while you may not be familiar with still tugs at your heart, the headliner O.A.R is playing. The music connects with me. It’s an experience- and it’s not just the music. It’s these friends that I am surrounded by- friends new and old, and how I connect with each one of them, and how it would not have been the same that night if it had been anyone else. I can feel how happy I am, pretending to sing along with song I don’t know, and not having a care in the world. How I find heartfelt conversation in stolen moments among the buzz of the crowd. How I realize that I am truly so lucky to know and have these people in my life, and how there is an aspect of this moment that you don’t want to end. And just like the first night I saw Red Wanting Blue on Girls Weekend, or that night after my first Tri, it’s this night- this is what I will hold on to days, weeks from now, remembering… how my heart felt home.
And now real life moves on, but I still have that soundtrack playing in the background as I work, cook dinner for the girls, pay bills… all with this sly smile that tells a story… the story of that night.
when I see the faces that remember my own.
I feel home,
when I'm chilling outside with the people I know.
I feel home,
and that's just what I feel.
Home to me is reality,
and all I need is something real.
Well in the end we can all call a friend
well that's something I know as true.
And then a thousand years and a thousand tears
I'll come finding my original crew
cause to me throughout eternity
there's somewhere where you're welcome to go
I said it's something free that means a lot to me
when I'm with my friends I feel home.
*************************************
How I wish I could take credit for these lyrics. But I can’t. So I won’t. I will just say how they perfectly capture that night….
It’s the last weekend before the girls return. I have had some good times going out, and some pure, peaceful moments of solitude, and relished in them both. But this last weekend was one of those magical times when it all seems to come together- a destiny of moments that call out to be remembered in future nights with those that shared in its magic.
Time with friends is always special, but when close friends end up relocating to Nashville (a convenient 3 hour commute away), one of their favorite bands are playing at a venue I have been wanting to check out, and oh, and it’s his 39 birthday, well, as they say, it’s a done deal.
C & J, or CJ as we will affectionately refer to them here, are “those” type of friends; the ones who I love and adore as individuals, but together as a couple they are special. The type of friends that you go months (or perhaps even years) without talking to and pick up right where you left off. Friends that call you that nickname that you haven’t heard since the last time you saw them. Friends you have known for life, or at least you feel like you do. And regardless of the plans, or lack thereof, you know you will have a great time just because you are together.
CJ arrive Friday night, and we laugh at how we have both clearly anticipated the end of the world as we have prepared enough food and beer for the next apocalypse. Another “I immediately connect with you” friend (and awesome dog) join us that night for an evening of “OMGwhathaveyoubeendoingtellmeeverything”. We casually sit around the kitchen table, loosing track of time and glasses of sangria, noshing on snacks until the lateness of the night takes over and we know we have to give in because there is yet another night of fun and catching up to be had. And after goodbyes and goodnights you realize that your cheeks are slightly sore because you have been smiling and laughing for the past countless hours.
The next day is an event. We head out to one of my favorite local breweries, but what makes it special is that yet another feels like life-long friend joins us for the fun. After taking in some local flavor (aka- seasonal release craft brew) we head downtown for dinner. Soon the 5 of us are together, friends new and old, all sitting around a table during senior citizen dining hours at a wonderful Atlanta restaurant, without a care in the world as we share dishes, stories and friendship. What amazes me most about this moment is the ease of it all; here, I am surrounded by people I have known for almost 40 years to only a few, and yet we all get along so effortlessly. We all seem to share the same fundamental approach to life, and are having fun in this moment; comrades in arms.
We head over to the concert- the venue is amazing. On old church, clearly with a storied past, the unique beauty of how the light filters through the stained glass windows, now reinvented, living a new life. I immediately relate.
We stake our claim on the main floor, and listen to some music that you can’t believe is just the opening act. Then suddenly, captured by an all-encompassing sound that, while you may not be familiar with still tugs at your heart, the headliner O.A.R is playing. The music connects with me. It’s an experience- and it’s not just the music. It’s these friends that I am surrounded by- friends new and old, and how I connect with each one of them, and how it would not have been the same that night if it had been anyone else. I can feel how happy I am, pretending to sing along with song I don’t know, and not having a care in the world. How I find heartfelt conversation in stolen moments among the buzz of the crowd. How I realize that I am truly so lucky to know and have these people in my life, and how there is an aspect of this moment that you don’t want to end. And just like the first night I saw Red Wanting Blue on Girls Weekend, or that night after my first Tri, it’s this night- this is what I will hold on to days, weeks from now, remembering… how my heart felt home.
And now real life moves on, but I still have that soundtrack playing in the background as I work, cook dinner for the girls, pay bills… all with this sly smile that tells a story… the story of that night.
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