It's now official: We are DEFINITELY the people our parents warned us about.
And to continue with the Buffett of wisdom, it is also clear that we are growing older, but not up. Nor should we (dagnabit!) With our travels over, the traces of the reunion sitting in laundered memories (if not tossed in waste bins on the way out of Dodge), and the dawn of our post-event lives now ascending before us, the spirit will live on on these pages...or someplace else even more suitable.
Over the next few weeks, as the shifting dunes of debris are sorted and catalogued, the Belltower will rise like the Phoenix from the egg-ashes of the streets of Heliopolis to provide a fulcrum for sharing and spinning the yarns that made the weekend a blast. Pictures will appear, stories will be hatched, friends will re-emerge (as bail gets posted). Thereafter, the plan is to evaluate the best vehicle out there to be the permanent Canterbury for all things Highlander. If you want to be involved in that, contact me and I'll include you in a Camelot-like (virtual) summit to make sure we accommodate all necessities.
In the meantime, check out Chris Talbot's amazing work from the weekend and take home some professional keepsakes. Chris did a superb job at photographing the entire event. He was like Elvis out there...everywhere you looked, there he was. Click on the link below for a closer look: www.talbotimages.com/ihs40
If you are still desperate for a reunion fix, I've posted some of the games from the Restaurant Crawl on the site to see who was paying attention thirty years ago. Ten minutes with these puppies and you are bound to grab the karaoke mike and start channeling your best Scott Henderson...
And so it ends. I'll do a posthumous write up on notes from the front lines in the days ahead (and be forewarned: the salacious details keep rolling in), but before I go, let me make a couple of quick and spirited thank you's to the people who really made this event come alive:
-Dewey Griffo, Larry Gingold, Mary-Ellen Anderson and the El Dorado Hotel for their phenomenal support of the golf event...
-Val Jackson for being an angel of mercy, a marvelous coordinator and high school tour guide...
-My amazing sisters Robin and Shawn and my brother-in-law Lono for pulling the food together and protecting my backside (yet again), with the always incredible Valerie Flynn (Parsons) providing a pot-pourri of support...
-Lonnie Parsons and the flotilla of water-folk who selflessly made their vessels available Saturday to bring the Lake to the People...
-Lisa Munson (Laird), Lisa Bablinskas (Oakes), and Val Flynn (sound familiar) for helping to contact and arrange the Restaurant Crawl participants
-The participating Tribute Trail establishments and their hardy representatives: Hacienda (Scott), Rookies (John and Diego), Bar-Bar-Bar (Rhonda Brockelsby), Crosby's (Gina and John), and John at Mofo's....they were just a joy to work with, their food and support was phenomenal, and whatever you can do to stop in, eat, and support their businesses would be greatly appreciated--they richly deserve it!
-First American CoreLogic for providing the his and her iPod prizes for the Crawl (congratulations to Judy and Richard Johnson for their startling victory)
...Plus many, many others, perhaps none more so than my amazing wife Jennifer and my kids Sabina, Bryce and Noe, who have earned about a year's worth of Mother's Days for putting up with me these past few months. Let it be said in full view: "she was right" In any event, I hope everyone is fortunate enough to find someone half as incredible as I did. I also hope as many of you as possible take me up on my offer to stop by San Clemente to see the Bensons in times of greater sanity, and thanks to the many people who made a point to introduce themselves and make my family feel welcome!
So...check back soon for the full debrief, but in the meantime, start with the last and possibly most important Question of the Week--I'm sure you can guess the topic...
A lifetime of memories in one weekend. An esteemed assembly, the likes of which will likely never be seen again. And years from now, 10,000 people will claim to have been there. Its been an incredible honor.
Brian
