Throwback Thursdays: Lifetime Friendship Discovered in a Restaurant

A Lifetime Friendship Discovered in a Restaurant

Sometimes you just don’t know when, or where, an amazing friendship will develop.

Way back in the 1990s we bought our first vacation house, a little 800 SF 3/2 on a large lot ¼ mile from Crosby Landing Beach in Brewster on Cape Cod. We took the 2+ hour drive from Boston often to enjoy weekends away from busy jobs, and all that the Cape has to offer year-round.

The kids were not quite old enough to stay at home alone, and over time got involved with other activities including their horses and friends, and lost interest in the Brewster house. So often I would head out Friday and return Saturday, and my wife would come Saturday so we could have the day together, then I would return to Boston and the kids and she’d come home Sunday. Occasionally we would switch days.

After a year or so we decided to add an addition – a 400 SF family/living room with vaulted ceiling and Rumford fireplace. Since we lived in the Historic District (everyone we knew in the area called it the “Hysterical District” because of how the town handled issues of remodeling), I had to go before the Town Board to present our plans for the house, including all the colors including the front door, types of windows, roofing, style of chimney, and more, and gain Historic Commission approval before we could start building. It ultimately happened, and turned out to be wonderful change to the house, and a huge bump in value.

The point of all this was during this process we met some people who became lifelong dear friends.

We had a favorite restaurant on the local road on the way to the house, and this became the traditional place to stop on the way in Friday night, and for dinner for whoever was at the house on Saturday. The bar WAS the place to eat, especially when you were by yourself, and one night I struck up a conversation with a couple who were there; they also had a vacation home and came down on weekends from NH. We ran into each other every weekend and became fast friends, and it was fun to share the story of the Hysterical District and our remodel, among other things.

The irony is that during this time my wife also met this same couple at the bar, and became friendly with them, but it was many weeks before we all realized we all knew each other since they never saw both of us together.

That was the start of a very dear friendship that continues to this day, some 20 years later, and even after our move from Boston to California. We spent every New Year’s Eve together beginning soon after we got to know them, including Y2K, and socialized many times on our trips to the beach house (soon after our remodel we decide to buy a bigger home on the water on Lt. Island in Wellfleet). After our relocation I had a business trip in October 2010 and we spent 5 days with them in their new permanent home in Brewster. It was absolutely wonderful after not seeing them for 6 years and feeling like nothing had changed between us since.

It turned out that trip was truly bittersweet, and more meaningful than we could have ever imagined. About 6 months later we learned he had cancer, and he passed away just a few days after this New Year’s. It was a horrible shock, and devastating to us all! My wife spent several days earlier this spring while I was on a business trip to DC, and we hope to both get back sometime soon!