Two mornings in a row, we were kicked out of some of Vancouver’s finest establishments.  No, I don’t mean the Surrey pub crawl for Zekiah’s 19th. I mean quiet little coffee shops in North Vancouver and White Rock.  Young managers who aren’t used to throwing out rowdy old folk like us.

My roots run deep in Surrey and Vancouver. 28 years total living there - exactly half of my life -  makes for Hallmark-movie reunions when I meet up with friends who have known me as Ricky (until 8th grade, and again when we moved back to BC), or even Richard (1st grade).

The first morning we did yoga in North Vancouver with Seanna & Laurie in a very hip mountain-view studio (as one does in North Van), then went out for brunch.  We hugged multiple times, we laughed and probably cried, mixed in a lot of “remember-when’s” balanced by encouraging “Why-don’t-we’s...”  This is a lifelong friendship with deep roots to support ever-growing, ever-bearing branches, and a healthy dose of knots and burls from life’s twisted vines.  

When the manager sheepishly asked if we could let others use our table, we spent another ten minutes on the sidewalk singing and dancing to our family anthem “Brown squirrel, brown squirrel, shake your bushy tail” (much to the kitchen staff’s amusement) as only old old friends (and teenagers) can do.  When a pregnant young mom took our photo, we told her how we were both pregnant, and to cherish these life-long friendships.

The next morning’s repeat performance was in White Rock - home of the newlyweds and nearly-dead - for a gathering of old high-school friends who had been my core group long past graduation. While these friends are more roots than leaves, the connection is real and the Joy of being together again was genuine.  

Impressively, this conversation was much more about where we are in each of our journeys, even before we bragged about kids or talked about the infamous toga party.  This wasn’t just a Bruce Springsteen “Glory Days” throwback, but friends with a lasting bond who truly cherish knowing who we’ve become.  

When this manager with the same sheepish look stuttered, “We love having you here, but…”, I interrupted his verb tense with “You mean, you’ve LOVED having us here…”  And when we once again loitered on the sidewalk for extended hugs and photos, I’m sure the waiters were smiling and saying “What an adorable reunion of old people!”  

Looking at the photos, we are indeed older, wiser, richer, wonderfully weathered and boldly confident and comfortable with this phase of life.  As Dar Williams sings (with beautiful Joan Baez accompaniment in the video below), “Aren’t we aging well?!”