As the years have gone on, the M&T team has developed a few traditions to celebrate the completion of each issue. I have a few of my own personal customs, but the one I look forward to most is the triple-date dinner party in the shop. Mike and Megan Updegraff, Mike and Grace Cox, and Julia and I get sitters for our kids so that we can feast, laugh, and play games late into the night.
We always seem to discover some new adult beverages and each couple brings a favorite game. Card and board games, mostly. Some have been strategic and level-headed, but most are… well… raucous. My kids always razz me the next day saying they could hear us hooting and hollering all the way up at the shop. I don’t blame them, though – it can get exciting. The first dinner Mike Cox came to (we barely knew each other at that point), things got a little carried away playing spoons and someone might have dived across the table and onto the floor to get the last spoon, partially landing in Mike’s lap. He looked stunned, but I will say it was worth it. I hate losing.
Last Friday was our Issue Eleven party and it did not disappoint – Scattergories, Apples to Apples, and Bite the Bag (a little sore the next morning). Laughs are always nourishing in the midst of tumult. If you read the news, it appears the world’s flipped sideways. Businesses all around are talking about inventory and staff shortages. And at the same time, there are so many exciting things happening all around. I don’t know why, but it seems like too many days I get news of a family friend with inexplicable health issues followed by rejoicing that others just had their sweet baby twins. Phew. Life is hard to take in at this rate. It’s dizzying.
So, I am thankful for my friends. Friends who have my back. Friends who tell hilarious jokes and drink good wine. Friends who will catch me when I fall off the table.
Life’s too short to live it alone. You’ve got to laugh once in a while.
– Joshua