ITS ALWAYS BEEN RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE

Ann and I are like hermits sometimes,just hanging out together at the house with the dogs and approximating social shut ins,which is cool with us.For a time we had the neighborly thing going on,hanging out on the porch regularly with Jen,but she has a boyfriend now so we don't see her so much.
Now that I've shined on the fair weather friends,I mean really,enough is enough.Our social vistas shrunk even more,not that Ann was a big fan to begin with...when we first hooked up with them we had money,the band was going full tilt and we threw parties all the time,generous to a fault on that level...not extravagant (unless cases of orange jubilee count, but somehow I don't think so)we provided the place and the food and beverage and the entertainment.
But when times got hard and we couldn't afford to do that kind of stuff anymore the contact dwindled.To my estimation,and for lack of a better descriptor,we weren't "cool" anymore.
The fact of the matter is we haven't been "cool" for 15 or 20 years (at least)our money and our generosity made it so.
But to the small circle of friends we've had since we were very young,none of that matters.
Sure,they were there for the parties and the jams and the good times.But they were also the ones that hung around to help clean up and put away the ton of gear,and sit around in the living room afterward and visit after everybody else went home.
So...were out in dripping yesterday,hanging out with Bill and Mick and their kids and dogs,and I'm looking at this guy with the gray 'fro and (small for 51) pot belly listening to him tell stories and I'm telling stories while he's looking at my potbellied graying self and it occurs to me the magnitude of what we have been through...a fucking life time of memories that don't always line up the same way,but that's what happens with the passage of time ("Ah,yes,I remember it well").
And I remember thinking this is where I should have been the whole time,and while I was kinda...I know where I want to be from here on out.
To quote a great philosopher..."Blah-blah-blah".