This past weekend a good friend of mine, Brad Who Lives In Memphis™, got married to a wonderful woman in Vancouver, British Columbia. And let me tell you a little about Vancouver: It’s in Canada. And it’s far away. Very far away.

Last Friday The Wife™ and I bummed around Seattle, shopping and walking and generally trying to not stick out as tourists, which was hard, seeing as how it was 58° and there wasn’t a single other person in the city in shorts and sandals. I’m a raging dork trend-setter, what can I say? At least I wasn’t wearing dueling fanny packs like many of the Asian globetrotters out there with us because man, nothing says “I’m here for fun and I mean business!” like doubling up on the fanny packs.

We had a fantastic few days complete with generous dinner invitations, swanky hotels, magnanimous friends pouring divine scotch, bike riding and road-tripping. I am so blessed to have some of the coolest friends in the world. Especially ones without fanny packs. They all came from different parts of the country, all of us unsure of the next time we would see each other again. And though we’re all on quite different paths in our lives, having grown much in the 13 years since we met as awkward freshmen we are still bound by memories like these, formed over the years. I’m so thankful for that.

So as I settle back into my humble little life here in Kentucky, I hope all of my friends are out there making a difference. From Alaska to Tennessee, I’m reminded of how this world is filled with good people whom I hope are even better friends to others in their lives. Good friends truly make me a rich man.

Congratulations, Bradley. And thank you to each of the rest of you.