Visitors from the North

 Twice this week I got to meet up with friends. 

Back in the day, when I worked in Boston, our office was closed. As you know. We were all spread to all points of the earth when that happened. 

We opted for the relocation, but so many people with younger kids or who owned homes were not into the idea of relocating. My manager JW convinced me to make the move that she was making, and I am happy we did. 

But several people didn't. One of those people was Sara. Pictured here in the center between me and JW.

Sara's daughter was in DC with her school band to celebrate the Lincoln Memorial, and she reached out to us to see if we wanted to have dinner. Yes. Yes we did. 

She came up to meet us in our town, which was convenient, and wonderful. JW wanted the full hibachi experience at a restaurant in our town, so we had a fantastic meal, great conversation, and tons of fun. 

I love Sara, I often approach borderline crisis situations saying "Sara would sign heavily here" then dive in, ask what should we do - and come up with good strategies. I try to channel an inner Sara as often as I can. I learned a lot from her when we worked together.

Sadly, it made me miss our Boston office, and the people. I love them all so much, still to this day, nearly 5 years after we all spread to the wind. One of my colleagues said that us working together was "Lightning in a bottle" because we were honestly all the best people to be in the same place at the same time. I believe that, in my heart of hearts.

Then on Friday night, Doug and I had dinner with some friends from our old church in Massachusetts. Early in week, the husband in the couple (he is A & she is J) had put on Facebook "Any recommendations for dinner in DC?" And I was like "uh, hello. We live here?" 

Dude, don'tcha know?

So we started a dialog, he didn't want Italian, he was hoping for small plates/tapas, something "fun." I found the José Andrés jam Zatinya, but the prices were too high for his liking. Too bad, I was thinking this was beyond perfect and I'd always wanted to go there.... 

So I put Doug to work to find a good spot. Doug is very good at picking places, and coming up with plans. It is his super power. 

A&J had a reservation at a hotel in the GWU neighborhood, and there are honestly no decent restaurants near there. Dunkin', Starbucks, Chic Fil A, Roti, fast food.... There are a couple "normal" restaurants, but literally .... you are on campus, dude. The hotel is On. Campus. The hotel is surrounded by Food Halls and student housing. No. There is no restaurant. Near. Your. Hotel.

I would have had Doug make us reservations at Tonic or at Founding Farmers, but I had him search for small plates, by request. He picked Uptown Market, which is near the Zoo, ...ish. 5 miles north of the hotel but very easy access by Metro. In fact there is a metro stop one block south of the restaurant. This is the neighborhood I'd live in if I lived in DC. It is a perfect spot to meet.

We agreed upon a reservation there at 6:30pm, piece of cake. They'd get in, check in the hotel, and either Uber up or metro. We'd be metro-ing down, perfect.

But at 4pm everything changed. 

In my work slack, a message went out saying there was an active shooter situation happening at the Van Ness/UDC Metro. Which... was exactly the location we were meeting. Shelter in place, everyone hide. Helpful for everyone who lived in that neighborhood (a lot of folks do, and heck I would...) but now dinner was not going to happen there.

I reached out, they were still a ways south of the city. I said that they should not head up there under any circumstances and we'd find a new meet up spot.  They were already kind of cranky, they were driving up from the Outer Banks and traffic was (as always is) horrible. A said "please pick something close to the hotel."

Honestly though, I had already pointed out that the hotel is nowhere near anything, but we'll try. 

Everything had been booked up, and the earliest availabilities were 8-9pm. 

They got to their hotel as Doug was finishing up a meeting and they checked at the front desk. I had suggested I order Uber Eats or Grub Hub and we just eat at their room. I really wanted to see them, but part of me was honestly like "oh fuck this, I'm tired." 

A checked at the front desk, said they told him they had a restaurant in the building. Thing is, on Google Maps of the area - it did not show up unless you zoomed super close. They. Have. A. Restaurant. 

I told them to make a reservation, they told me the front desk said no reservation necessary. Huh. Cool... we'll see you there. Doug and I got on the metro, took the ride down, got there at 7. 

They had a chance to freshen up, and we connected with hugs and happiness. 

We had a wonderful visit - I mean, truly lovely. What a good time. A is full of puns and weird stories. 

He's a little weird. Likes the "Dad Jokes" in the world, and we often groaned at his jokes. 

J and Doug served on the church Deacons together when we lived up there, so they were very close. J is now the chair of the search committee to find a new pastor, and Doug was the chair back in like 2016 when we had to pick one then. He had lots of good advice and encouraged her to be in touch if she needed to talk. 

We wouldn't have made the effort if these folks were not important in our past and part of our lives in ways that mean so much. It was very nice. Very. I'm very happy it all worked out, even if there was an unfortunate incident near our original place. The picture above is me and J. And below all 4 of us. I'm not good at Selfies. 

Having two straight nights of friends was a real blessing for me. I love people I have made friends with over the years and love catching up. I value them enough to go into the city when there's like wild active shooter bullshit happening. It's such a blessing to just know people that I am invested in their lives, their kids, their jobs, the connection they have to the people still at our old church, and to catch up on the lives that we are all living. 

It was good for my heart.