I received a text from a number not familiar to me. The person said he was coming to NYC for New Year’s Eve and could I meet for coffee or breakfast on December 30th. My reply was, “WHO is this?” It turned out to be my biggest surprise in a very long time: My old friend, Mark. Mark was married to a very good friend of mine and when they separated I mourned his loss. Through the years I would still send him Christmas cards and comment how much I missed our visits. Mark is not Basque but there was a time he LOVED everything Basque. I could count on seeing him at Club events and annual picnics. Quite often after an event Mark and Anita would spend the night; she would fall asleep and he and I would talk through the night solving ALL of the world’s problems. About two years ago I saw him at Anita’s and we all had dinner together. It was like the good ol’ days and it just reinforced how much I missed him.
As it turns out his passion these days is photography and he was coming into town to photograph a friend who is in a band that would be playing at Times Square for New Year’s Eve. He was staying in the Financial District, closer to the Brooklyn Bridge. I met him at La Marchande a restaurant at The Wall Street Hotel at 8 a.m. that Friday morning.
We talked about everything; the past, the present, the future. We laughed and we cried and after several cups of coffee I was on my way back home. I couldn’t believe that three and a half hours had passed; it felt like 30 minutes.
As I walked back through the Financial District, in front of the Stock Exchange and through Bowling Green I felt like I had found something I feared I had lost. What a great way to end an already incredible year. It was just enough to look forward to yet another wonderful year in my lifetime. And, what a way to start the new year right here in New York City!