So Much Has Changed

Wifey and I see my two best college buddies, Eric and Barry, and their long suffering wives, Dana and Donna, far too seldom.  Life somehow gets in the way of it happening, but tonight we plan to meet -- up in Weston, at an Italian place.

Barry and I were roommates in college, sharing Apartment 22Z from the Fall of '80 until I graduated in Spring of '83. We grew into brothers as we grew into men.

Barry was supposed to move in with Eric and me, to a three bedroom apartment we found in Kendall, in August of '83. Eric was starting med school, and I was starting law school, and Barry was going to be a college senior. Alas, Barry opted out at the last minute, and Eric and I found a two bedroom place down the street, where I met Wifey at the mailbox. So I owe Barry for that, as we still joke decades later.

Two Jewish guys, one in med school, and one in law school. How exotic, right? Actually, one evening Eric, Dana, Wifey and I went to a comedy club on US 1, in a small space now part of a liquor store. We saw two young comics, a woman and a man, and they were both terrific. Years later Wifey realized they were Ellen Degeneres and Howie Mandel.

We sat in the front, and Mandel asked Eric what he did. He answered med student. Same for me -- I told him I was in law school. He asked if we were Jewish. We said we were. "Wow," he exclaimed, "a Jewish doctor and a Jewish lawyer -- beat ME with a stick!"  It was our grad school brush with fame...

When we were in college together, we enjoyed drinking and laughing together, and cheering for the Canes. Now, in our late 50s, we enjoy drinking and laughing together and cheering for the Canes. So much has changed.

It actually has. We're all married, to the aforementioned long suffering wives, and blessed with 6 amazing kids. I have the Ds, Barry has two boys, and Eric, always one to be the most indecisive, has one of each. A glorious hedge!

D1 and Eric's girl are married. D2 will marry in January, and Eric's boy will marry in March. Barry's boys are a bit younger, but if I was a betting man, I'd give strong odds that Barry's oldest is going to marry his current girlfriend.

Can we three friends from teen years actually be grandfathers together? The Big Man will decide...

All I know is, I'm quite looking forward to tonight. Last night, Wifey and I went to visit her mother at the Palace. I texted a photo of a smiling Rachel to Eric and Barry, to make fun of how I was spending my Saturday night. They both responded that they were visiting ALFs, too...we of the sandwich generation.

Our beloved Canes open the season in 13 days -- in Orlando, a "neutral site" that the Gators insisted on to renew our rivalry. They dropped us from the schedule after we beat them regularly in the 80s, claiming their SEC commitments were too great. Yeah -- we all know the truth -- they were cowards, and looking to avoid the mighty Canes.

This year, the Gators appear to have the better team -- ranked in the Top 10, and coming off a much better '18 than we had. They're favored to win, and Vegas usually gets it right. But not all the time -- we'll have a great time, no matter what.

I got a call last week from a UM bureaucrat -- wanting to set up a meeting with the Arts and Sciences Dean, to decide what I would like my "future involvement" to be with the College. The answer will be minimal -- UM has plenty of money, and doesn't need my small donations. I'll give to the Hurricane Club each year, of course, to keep my tickets, but as for other donations -- nah -- I've given plenty.

FIU needs our help more, and it's great to be involved with D1's grad school alma mater, their School of Public Health.

But UM is in my blood -- always will be, and mostly for the friendships it has brought me -- Eric and Barry from college, and Norman, Mike, and Jeff from law school.

So tonight we'll be together, the three college amigos, and we'll toast the manifold blessings of our lives, and we'll toast our Canes. It's great that in a world that changes radically, some core things stay the same.