A Toast At Giottos
On a morning racing from hospital to airport, a happy tale.
Just eight months earlier, Zach and Jesse had hosted me at one of Ann Arbor's finest Italian restaurants; now that evening, I hosted the two of them at one of St. Louis' own. The setting was a table at one of the most famous restaurants on The Hill - St. Louis' famed Italian district. And as the waiters cleared dinner plates in preparation for the course after, Zach raised his glass to propose a toast...
It had been almost a year since Zach had proposed to Jesse. Almost three years since a merry summer's romp with them and niquerio and aelkiss riding steel on the Sandusky shore. Almost seven since it all began for me in the basement of the U. Maryland Armory, when silmaril set so much in motion. Many adventures we'd shared, much to celebrate; and a toast Zach asked to offer...
The toast, he offered, was to our mutual friend Sho. Sho, who had joined aelkiss and I on the mad, merry, crazed Six Flags adventure told in the first part of Days of Steel and Song. Sho, fellow song-spinner of the Cynnabar Collegeium Musica, who was part of our company the day we performed on the Mother Oak Stage and later went on to join the full-time cast. Sho, wonderful, musical, cheerful Sho; who first knew Zach and convinced him to come to Cynnabar singing practices in the first place, where Zach would meet us, where Zach would first meet Jesse; and here we were. To Sho, who was the reason Zach came to know us all: a toast! A toast!
And then, Jesse, so inspired, raised her glass in turn. She raised her glass to another mutual friend, bkleber, bkleber of the Mad Science Experiments and ladybugs and so much more. bkleber, whom she'd first met in college. Who had first convinced her to come to Thrir Venstri Fœtr practices, where she got involved in the Ren world, and where ulimately she joined the Barony of Cynnabar and met Sho and ultimately met Zach. To bkleber, who was the reason Jesse came to know us all: a toast! A toast!
And then my glass raised in turn, to silmaril. To silmaril, who had long ago one evening mischeviously invited me to dance practice and the medieval world. The same night where I too met Jesse; and later joined Cynnabar together with her, where we ultimately met Zach in singing with the Cynnabar Collegium Musicum. And thus I was, after practice one evening, was able to invite Zach to join us for a trip to Cedar Point the next day. To silmaril, who was the reason I came to know to know Sho, and bkleber, the good people of the Midrealm and Calontir and Markland/Atlantia -- and Jesse and Zach themselves: a toast! A toast!
Toasts we raised to all that we had shared. To the adventures before. The friendship between. The adventures to come. And above all, to the wonderful friends who, each in their own way, made it all possible. It was a perfect moment of celebration. Not just of the special friendship Jesse and Zach and I were so lucky to share. But of *all* the special people, family and friends, whose love wove the tapestry of our lives. And to them all -- every one of them -- we raised our glasses and raised them high.
As I prepare to leave on another trip transitioning from the now to what's next, a good time to tell this story. A moment of celebration of the people who in the beginning brought us together. And made possible all the stories which come, when we are first introduced to a stranger that becomes a friend.
To it all -- to them all -- to you all: a toast to the past. A toast to the present. And a toast to joy in your journeys, until my journeys next allow us to toast in person. :-)