Reunion

BC started it a month ago by sending an e-mail out announcing plans to reunite a bunch of us Walt Whitman HS grads together to go see Nils Lofgren in Baltimore MD. We would meet in The Neighb aka Wood Acres in the afternoon. Those headed to the show would take off from there. Bear was coming up from NC. AP was coming up from Florida. We got a lot of the guys who still lived in the DC Metro area together for this. BC's brother DC was fired up too. Weess and I drove over from our houses in Northern VA.

BC, Weess, AP and I were together again for the first time since our friend Elwood's wedding in '92. We swapping stories, laughed and talked about the old days. We took a walk around the neighborhood, we saw Wood Acres Elementary School, the baseball fields and we also went to the place where we (as teenagers) used to enjoy beer back in the day. It was all so different as the school was rebuilt. The four of us just picked up where we left off though as we told story after story. It was great. While things in life change, our friendships had not.

We then went to grab something to eat in Bethesda and after we got back, decided to go meet BC's brother and other friends at the basketball court. We ended up playing in a full court basketball game. All we really wanted to do was shoot some hoops and joke around, but no, we ended up turning back the clock for one more hoops game.

Some in our group play recreation hoops. Others, well, we were older, slower and for me, whatever basketball game I had back in the day, left me a long, long time ago. I basically forgot how to play in an actual game, despite watching hundreds of games over the years. No one can stop me when it comes to shooting wads of paper into the office trash can, but today I was shooting air.

We all had a good time though. Sure, a few of us got knocked around. I twisted my ankle on a play and while it's still a little sore. No regrets at all, but I really, really stunk (I did have a couple assists though) on the court. It didn't matter. The amount of fun we all had was incredible. Just getting this crew back together for an afternoon was a treat. Something I won't forget.

I couldn't make it to Baltimore for the show but I know those guys who went had a blast. All I can say is thanks to BC for making today happen. While neighbors will come and go in Wood Acres, bonds like our friendships last forever. This will always be our neighborhood.