The stories ARE true!

"TO ACCOMPLISH GREAT THINGS, WE MUST NOT ONLY ACT, BUT ALSO DREAM; NOT ONLY PLAN BUT ALSO BELIEVE."

ANATOLE FRANCE

 I tell many stories from my past.

Often, I find myself questioning the veracity of these tales.

I am sure the the listeners to my diatribes are thinking "whatever" to themselves.

Could that have been what really happened?

Is that even possible?

Sounds like something one might see in a movie or on a wild reality show!

By some stroke of fate, I reconnected with someone from my past yesterday.

Lewis and I met just about 40 years ago and for almost 2 decades our paths often crossed and intertwined.

In those years I was in the textile industry.

I had started my own business and branched out into a number of different ventures.

Lew and I ran our businesses out of the same industrial park.

In our conversation yesterday he casually commented "those were crazy times".

I agreed.

As we spoke,there were more and more references to just how wild those times were for each of us.

Over and over,without rehashing the details, the memories from back in the day bubbled to the surface.

Eventually,with a smile as broad as you will ever see on my face, I thanked Lew.

You see,it really did happen!

The stuff that comes true only in lore and legend was absolutely what we lived at that time.

Our "fish tales" about the one that got away were not exaggerated.

It was just that insane!

20/20 hindsight allows us to see how wild, crazy and dare I say reckless we were.

Even scarier is that in that moment we thought it was okay,even normal!

As the mature responsible adults we both are today,we can not imagine ever doing what we did back then again,or that we ever did them in the first place.

As we were ending our conversation, I thanked Lew.

I thanked him for validating what had become questionable to me.

One thing I am certain of.

I don't live in or dwell on the past.

The past however is the bedrock, the foundation if you will, of how I got to be who I am today.

It's good to remember how and what it took to get here.

That is why we keep telling the stories!