The past two years of a global pandemic has taught me a number of things, and one is that strong & meaningful connection between friends and colleagues are vastly important to one’s happiness. I have made some great connections over the year, through my career, the organization that I belong to, and in some cases life-minded interests path crossing. In any event, some of these people have become what I will call lifelong close friends. When I walk into my home office in the morning I am greeted by a number of them, (there are a few who still owe me a photo, and are being called out right now) and it reminds me that I am lucky to have each of them in my life. Great distances might keep us from regular visits (COVID has not helped), and we might not chat every week, but I know that I can count on them, and they know the same.

As I sit down in the morning and look across the desk it reminds me of a saying from the movie The Four Feathers “Know that the soldier's greatest comfort is to have his friends close at hand…. When armies are scattered and the empires fall away, all that remains is the memory of those precious moments that we spent side by side.