Farewell, Bang!
Tough to beat a weekend of good ol' times.
Alex and I had plans to spend the weekend in New York. His friends had a birthday party at this beer garden with sweet views. In addition, Miss Pauline was due back for the month from Dubai for the annual Stateside frolic - NYC, Chicago, and Houston this time.
But on Monday we got news that, after years of job hunting and careful planning, Bang will finally move to San Diego - in a week! Emergent party planning ensued, the NYC plans got bumped by 24 hours, and Saturday night was reserved for Bang's farewell toga party.
I wasted no time in planning my suddenly free Saturday morning. Kari had her first day off in 11 straight days of residency and suggested we hike the Wissahickon Trail rather than drive up to Pinnacle and waste a day in the car. The early morning became the late morning and we hit the trail around 11. The weather was perfect and the trees shaded us while we chatted our way through the woods and rocks, loosely following Tom Thwaite's suggested paths.
We stopped for a light lunch on a huge rock along the creek, and I remembered that I used to have dinner almost daily at the "vista" in Ralph Stover when I first moved to Doylestown. Hiking to my dinner spot after work was one of my favorite things to do not too long ago. We wandered through the park, looking for a statue of a Native American Indian which we concluded doesn't really exist after several hours of semi-searching. At one point Kari observed, "I feel like these directions are made for people more attentive then we are." Probably true.
Most of my good weekends include a nap on Kari's couch. This weekend did not deviate from the pattern. Dusty, thirsty, and hot, we drove back to her place, scored two unbelievable parking spots, and I napped happily on her couch after a nice refreshing shower... while she slaved away in the kitchen baking a beautiful and fragrant lemon pound cake. It wasn't until we were leaving for Bang's toga party that I realized the pound cake wasn't coming with us - for all the tantalizing baking smells I had to endure, there was no noshing to show for it. Shame.
At Bang's, everyone had been drinking for three or four hours already, and tons of food was just coming off the grill. We greeted everyone, donned our togas, and joined the fun. The Roast was the highlight of the evening. A few people prepared speeches. Brian wrote up something read by our friend Carly. It celebrated Bang in all the ways he loves us all - hilariously and affectionately with a little kick in the ass.
The best line (besides, "Bang Fact: Bang never has sex; he only makes love") was "Bang is everyone's best friend." It is a truth that everyone in the "audience" could appreciate, and it sums up Bang's big, huge heart in perfect and few words. A few hours of drinking later, a small group of us made our way to Cuddy's around the corner, where there was live music and a lot of people wondering about our togas (naturally).
Before bed, Bang told me to come up and say goodbye in the morning no matter how early. Tears welled in my eyes as we hugged and kissed goodbye, and I was sad as I turned to close the door to his bedroom... I became even more sad when the doorknob came off into my hand, and he was now locked in the bedroom. I walked down the stairs, simultaneously crying and laughing and showed Steve, who was awake with Nilly, the fallen knob. He saw my tears. "Is he locked inside?" I nodded and laughed, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. "How fitting."
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