race across the city

dinner with an old friend

Originally uploaded by cafedave.

Once your friends get married, it becomes harder to catch up with them. Once they have kids, it becomes harder still. Almost ten years into his marriage, one of my oldest friends found himself with a meeting in the city, giving me a rare opportunity to have dinner with him: just the two of us – first time in probably ten years!

Some problems with his planned (pre-dinner) meeting in the city arose, and so we caught up earlier than we’d previously arranged. We walked from Wynyard station, along George St, and then back past Town Hall.

After walking for 20 or 25 minutes across the city, his phone rang. His meeting was back on. Not used to the city, he quoted 10 minutes to get back!

It’s been a long while since we last walked anywhere together, but the blistering pace that he set back then hasn’t changed a bit: it was all I could do to keep up with him! Sure enough, 12 minutes later, we were back at the original site, and he finally made his meeting.

After that was over, we walked back across the city for dinner, having a great time catching up; (be careful if you’re looking for dessert on George St, near Town Hall – I’ve never had an affogato served in an espresso cup before).

The whole night – racing across the city – catching up – driving him home – was an excellent time. If you have any friendships that date back so far, I would highly encourage you to keep making the effort – spend the time whenever you can.

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