Although I would love to take Andy the Armadillo sightseeing - none of you would recognize the images as I now call home CT. It was a surprising change of heart bringing him to the dentist after you let the kids club him! Let Lizzie in there with some dental tools and you'll hear Andy scream before you can say "bleeding gums"!!
Just wanted to introduce the boys. Tom Burke is on the left, that oh-so-loveable dork is next, then me, Mark and my brother Ken Dilling. We've been around for some time and have been through a whole lot together over the years. I've known JJ since we were 4 when his mom invited me to his birthday party at swimming lessons. This is the 4th grade with JJ, me and Tom.
Johnny is second from left, bottom. Tom is over his left shoulder and I am the loser in plaid pants all the way bottom, right. At least the kid behind me (Chuck West) also wore plaid....
So we've been around a while. JJ, Tom and Ken are that circle of friends that so many people in this world must be jealous of. There are acquaintances you make, friends at work, people you become close to for a while - that might even impact your life significantly - but then move on; if you are fortunate like me you will have a core of quality people that you know will never be replaced, substituted or fully understood. There is not much that we haven't shared both good and bad and I trust these guys with everything I hold dear.
This is us at Ken's stag in Amsterdam. Yup, that's right. It was an unforgettable time (and remembering Amsterdam isn't always easy) and JJ and I saw VanGogh like nobody else I know.
We were all a part of one another's weddings.
And I just heard JJ and Lizzie's weding song this weekend at Home Depot. That renovated barn was beautiful!
I will find the yearbooks from Emerson and Nashoba and entertain you some more at another post soon but I don't want toget too carried away right now. Thanks to my Mom for the Mr Stein picture. Ah 1979...... OY!
We have endured a lot together. I worked with JJ for his dad for 7 years. I rode in Vicki's car while she went around a rotary the wrong way, then me, JJ and Vicki went to see Twisted Sister at the Orpheum. We have gone to college. We have met the most amazing women which we were fortunate enough to marry. The boys have lived together, worked together, been to more shows than most in a lifetime, have survived driveby shootings, work trauma, girl drama, drunken snowball fights on a train, bottle cap fights and dart fights. We have brawled, we have laughed and we have always loved.
