I lived in Florida in November of 1990 and took my vacation from my company to come to North Carolina and work on the 1990 election.  A friend from Florida told me that while I was here, to go by Ruby Tuesday at Northgate Mall and introduce myself to a couple of her friends.  I was in Durham a few weeks, so the night after the election, even though I was absolutely exhausted and did not feel like being social, a few of us that worked on the campaign went there for dinner. 

One of her friends, John, waited on us and the other, Keith, stopped by our table.  And that was the beginning of our lifelong friendship.  Later, I met Andy, Jennie Mac and a few more people.  A few months later, I was offered a job in Chapel Hill and moved to the area and within the year, we all shared a house.

Over the past 18 years, we have travelled all over the world.  We have backpacked trails in Northern Thailand and spelunked caves in Montana.  We have swum in the Keys, watched Old Faithful shoot and dined in Coconut Grove.  We have loved and laughed, birthed and buried, shared our lives and families, supported one another and grown up together through good times and hard times.

How my life would have turned out so differently if I had not gone to dinner that night.  I write this as a testament to our lifelong friendship.