[AccessD] Hey, it's Friday

Gustav Brock Gustav at cactus.dk
Mon Nov 19 09:14:19 CST 2007


What a wonderful evening, Arthur! Thank you for sharing.

/gustav

>>> fuller.artful at gmail.com 16-11-2007 15:24 >>>
Last night was my 60th birthday, and about 25 of my friends had a surprise
party for me. I was completely clueless about its occurrence. I have a
favourite Indian restaurant in Toronto called Shalimar, owned and operated
by a good friend called Khalid, and ironically, I decided that that was
where I wanted to have dinner last night. So I booked a reservation, little
knowing that the entire restaurant had already been booked. Khalid managed
to keep a straight voice when I called. My friend Norma and my sister Clare
came with me, and there's a great bookstore/recordstore next door which I
insisted upon visiting, little knowing that there was a party awaiting me
next door. This is a small restaurant (always a good sign), and when I
walked in, I saw that the whole place had been re-arranged, a dozen tables
united into one enormous long table, and as I scanned the occupants I
realized bit by bit that I knew everyone at the table, and finally it dawned
on me.

To break bread with good friends is a good thing. To find oneself as the
centre of attention, so to speak, surrounded by good friends, is truly
breathtaking -- and humbling. For some reason or other, I have a collection
of quality people to call my friends. We had fabulous food, wonderful
conversation and I even received some cool presents and cards. Forced at one
point to stand and make a speech, all I could manage was to thank my friends
for being my friends. I've known almost everyone in attendance for 30 or so
years, some more. There were even emails from persons who could not attend,
such as one of my oldest friends, Paul Grenkow, who teaches English in
Beijing, who could not attend only because his wife was expected to give
birth on the day.

I'm a lucky man. I have wonderful friends. But I do caution you to think
carefully about holding a surprise party for 60yo people. The heart
palpitations are unbelievable. On the other hand, what better way to go.

A.






More information about the AccessD mailing list