Some of the faces around that table were among the first he’d
seen when he was taken out of the gift bag shortly after leaving the store and
he recognized them immediately by their heartwarming smiles. The lady’s tone and demeanor were light and
hearty and by osmosis Buck was filled with warm feelings as he sat at the table
and listened to them laughing as they updated each other on the more recent
events in their lives. Collectively
they had lost enough weight amongst them to actually be missing a small person
and while they did reminisce a little that afternoon most of the time was spent
in looking ahead and sharing plans.
These people had formed the lady’s work team (when she cared
about such things) and it was to them that she handed the torch to as she moved
on to retirement. As she predicted, they
grabbed the reigns and not only kept going forward but improved processes and
she seemed proud of them as she sat among them hearing of how they were
managing without her. Fresh ideas, new energy, next generation; the universe
was unfolding as it should over a long lunch on “Margarita Thursday”.
Buck moved from glass to glass sneaking sips of each flavour
as the unsuspecting cast of characters focused on each other. His own focus moved from stealing sips to
double vision as the afternoon wore on and while he was sure he’d have
difficulty waddling today he knew the lady would simply carry him in her bag
when it was time to go. With the margaritas
flowing and a designated carrier established Buck had nothing to worry about
and he didn’t. Retirement was teaching
Buck how to relax.
The consensus amongst the group that afternoon was that they
looked great and were pretty much invincible.
While the margaritas may have fuelled this outcome it is more likely the
power of friendship.
