"Around The World" (GREY GARDENS)

Birthdays are a time to appreciate all that one has experienced up to that point--the good, the bad, the laughter, and the sad. And for a few of us, birthdays are also a celebration. For friends, you just confirm what they want to do and try to respect their wishes but sometimes you have to do a little coercing and persuading to actually celebrate a birthday. We had someone in the volleyball group who we knew had a birthday coming up, but he said he didn't really make plans or do too much for his birthday. He had just gotten back from a business trip abroad right the day before so plans were very delayed in getting something together. Well, someone organized a birthday dinner yesterday afternoon for that night. She got together 11 people along with having a home-baked cake there to celebrate--not bad for just a few hours notice. The dinner was filled with stories and a lot of laughter. Happy Birthday Nestor!
I'm pretty good about remembering the first time I meet my friends but sometimes the timing is a little different. With Nestor, there was a bit of a progression as with many others before getting involved with the group. He had made appearances at Brandeis open play with friends from his team in the Zogsports league. At Brandeis he met a few more people and as the months progressed he became more of a regular at sign-up. As I've mentioned before, there is a bit of time from when you get a number to the actual sign-up for a court, so you get to know people a little more--gossip, laugh, warm-up, or grab food. Good times!! Nestor became part of this group that developed out of that whole season of sign-up. And the rest as they say is history.