Reunion

This past weekend I was at yet another wedding, the last for this year. It was the wedding of a good college friend of mine, Mike Davis. He got married to a lovely lady, Kathleen Trupiano, whom I only met for the first time this weekend. It was a fun weekend and an unofficial reunion of my college friends...the people I met my freshmen year and became a family with over 4 years. It was cool to see everyone...the first time in 3 years since I picked up and moved away after graduation. It's crazy that I haven't been back since...well minus seeing my parents over holidays. I literally just packed up and walked out of the door of their lives, our big family life, one day. It was sad in that sense, sad that I had abandoned them. I got a lot of the same question..."where the heck have you been the past 3 years?!?!" It made me realize that I really did just abandon them all. I was a big part of that group, not just an outlier so it meant something. But now we're back, reunited, caught up. Everyone is pretty much the same, only a more grown-up version. There is still an energy between all of us, a cohesiveness. These people will always be part of my family.

So, something that was really cool was a reminder of the fact that Gators are a special thing in and of itself...being a Gator is a special thing. Both the bride and groom are Gator grads and therefore the majority of the wedding attendees were Gators. So, there was a Gator ice sculpture at the raw bar and we did the Gator chomp during the reception...it was pretty amazing, something I had forgotten about, but remembered how amazing being a part of that is. I will be forever a Gator.