Well, I woke up Sunday morning, elbowed to my right and left, felt no wood, and knew I was still alive! And it was a banner weekend.
Friday as Wifey and I drove to Key Biscayne, I got a call from my Development rep at FIU, Smilka. I mentioned where I was going, and she said she was friends with Karim, the Ritz owner. Smilka knows lots of rich folks. She said she would call Karim and tell him we were coming. Turns out Karim is CEO of a huge hotel owning company, based in Miami -- Four Seasons, Ritz Carltons, etc all over the world.
We arrived early, and I asked for a room upgrade based on my using AMEX. The clerk said it had already been taken care of -- Paul had intervened and got us a spectacular ocean front suite -- the better to entertain. The room wasn't available for awhile, and so Wifey and I retired to Dune, a poolside place, and had delicious corvina sandwiches and shared a pina colada. Afterwards, Paul and Patricia arrived, and we decided we would "share one martini." We ended up sharing 4 of them.
Donna walked by, and pointed out Barry in the lobby, on two Zoom calls. I had a Makers brought to him.
At 4, the room was free, and we went to it. We were greeted by cake and balloons and wine, courtesy of my nephews of another brother, Scott and Josh, and Scott's lady Sam. It was lovely.
The crew was all there by 5:30 and some earnest drinking ensued. I had brought an "arm" of Stoli Elit. We polished it off. Wifey and Donna and Patricia walked to the Club, and even though we didn't have access, brought some apps. Finally something good for the rich white people!
Dinner was terrific, at Cantina. The fajitas with prime beef were a bit above the usual Mexican fare. We toasted. And drank more. By 10 I was wiped.
Saturday was breakfast, and a literal moment on the beach. I like to look at the ocean but not really swim in it. And the pools, while beautiful -- same thing. So we snacked and napped, and then convened at Eric's at 5:30. He put together a lovely video of our friendship.
Oh -- and Karim and Smilka had sent a 2010 bottle of Dom. That went fast.
At 7:30 we met at Lightkeepers -- me leading the group like a tour guide for Asians, but with two bottles of Stage Leap instead of a flag. It was delightful, of course, and Eric took pro level photos. More toasting. More laughter. More catching up of old friends.
Sunday there was breakfast, and then hours of talking over coffee in our suite. Little by little the guests left, except for Marc and Edna -- staying until Wednesday.
We drove home, and then the fun continued. We fetched D2 and Jonathan, and drove to Capital Grille, our old go-to business celebration place. We feasted more. D1 and Joey came. And D1 showed me what she had done -- contacted many friends and compiled a book of their memories or thoughts of me. I was truly humbled.
Turns out to most people I'm NOT an asshole. I guess that's the best one can hope for.
Alyssa and Freddy made a late appearance -- a final round of cocktails. And then I called for the bill. Instead the manager came to say the bill was paid for -- Paul and Patricia had struck again. I felt guilty for ordering the seafood tower as an app.
I drove home, and kept hearing Kris Kristofferson's song "Why Me Lord?" in my head. I changed the lyric Jesus to HaShem, but the sentiment was the same. I am the luckiest son of a bitch I know. I'm Lou Gehrig at Yankee Stadium WITHOUT his disease. That's the best there can be.
So today, back to normal. D2 made me promise to start again with Enrique, our trainer. She and Jonathan will participate, too. I know Covid is still around, but we'll mask, and all are vaxxed. Big Man forbid Covid finds us, hopefully it'll be mild. Too much life awaits living to hunker down again.
I have emails and letters to write. I got one from my old friend Harlan -- we rarely speak, but he still thanks me for keeping him sane when we took the Bar exam Summer of '86. We both have grown kids and grandkids now, and as he says, a fistful of dollars.
Indeed, extremely lucky Daddies in the USA.
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