Friday, January 31, 2025

Monday, February 3, 2025

Good morning, y’all, and welcome to the end of the week and the end of January.

Last night, we met up with high school friends at Lindy’s Landing in Wauconda. This is a cozy restaurant where ten of us were able to sit comfortably together in a living room setting and have some beverages before dinner.

Wauconda is a reasonable halfway point for most of us, taking 30–45 minutes to drive, except for Tom C., who endured a two-hour commute from Chicago. His comment about never having been that far west in Lake County reminded me of my own past remarks about Crystal Lake, IA … which is another 30+ minutes west of Wauconda.

Tom moved to Chicago over 40 years ago and must never venture outside of Cook County. Still learning about Chicago’s rush hour traffic, Tom endured a two hour drive and was an hour late. I’m glad he powered through and was still able to make it.

We sat down for dinner, and all the couples split up, giving us a better chance to talk with the people other than our spouse. This was a good idea, but it also put Cindy on one side of the table with people she is just getting to know.

During dinner, Bill B. spotted a familiar face—a former coworker, Margaret, who was with a friend. He went over to say hello, and the conversation turned to why we had such a big group. Really, there were only ten of us; it felt like one of my childhood dinner experiences. Bill briefly explained my ALS and that we were catching up on lost years. I’m not sure if he meant our lost years of high school days or just the last decade-plus.

The ALS comment caused Margaret to mention that she has a friend in Crystal Lake who has a friend with ALS. Well, that friend of a friend turns out to be me, and the common link is Anna Lobb. Yep … small world again.

All of this was happening at the end of the table opposite me, so I really didn’t see or hear anything. I was busy talking to Rick, so I had my head turned away.

When Bill returned, he told Cindy about the connection, and she, in turn, tried to give me the condensed version, pointing toward Margaret’s table. I nodded in acknowledgment, figuring I’d catch up later.

A bit later, on my way back from the restroom (with clean hands, if you’re wondering), I stopped at the table I thought belonged to Margaret and her dinner companion. The couple politely paused their meals as I introduced myself and was proceeding to talk about our small-world connection.

Cindy, seeing this unfold, rushed over to stop me—because, of course, I was at the wrong table. Slightly embarrassed but laughing, I apologized and quickly moved to the correct one. Still chuckling about me going to the wrong table, we introduced ourselves to Margaret and took a quick photo of the three of us. Cindy sent the photo to the Lobbs without any context, knowing full well that Anna’s curiosity would lead her to dig for the backstory…which Cindy ignored.

Back at our table, everyone was still laughing about my little mix-up. Thankfully, the couple I interrupted had a good sense of humor; they even came over before leaving to shake my hand and say it was nice meeting me. That drew more laughter.

It was a wonderful night—full of laughter, hugs, a great meal, and, most importantly, the company of old friends who have my back. It’s one more story to add to our collection, something we’ll all smile about for years to come.

And to top it off, our friends covered our dinner—again. Chrissy, who handled the bill, refused to take a dime from us. I’ve learned over the years that she can out-stubborn me, so I don’t even try anymore and I put my money away.

A huge thank you to the whole group for their generosity and friendship; nights like these warm my heart and feed my soul. I’m beyond grateful to have such incredible people in my life.

Have a great Friday.

Love you guys!❤️