Monday, March 31, 2008

By the time I post this, The Italian Joint Next Door will be closed. It's been a little over under four years since I joined this company, cutting my teeth at The Italian Joint. It was where I started this chapter of my life. And now it's closing.

Stephie and I had brunch there yesterday. We spoke of some the fun times we had there. New Year's Eve 2004. Stephie still has a scar on her arm from that night. One Sunday morning in late 2005, she and I sat at the bar and proceeded to get rip-snorting drunk at 10 in the morning, and then went and got pedicures. In March of 2006, I went to work for the wine bar. Less than two months later, Stephie came over to the good side of the wall.

The Italian Joint is where the employees of the wine bar go to get mid-shift Dr Pepper. It's where we go for lemons when people request them. If we run out of coffee cups or to go boxes or need Pelligrino, we go next door. We watch all kinds of sports on the teebee there. Jacob checks on the Spurs. Adam watches the Giants. Doug used to go watch EVERYONE. Jesus. We hung out there, albeit much less in the last couple of years.

And now, it won't be there anymore.

Everything changes. Things come and things go. Life is, by its very nature, a temporary venture.

At least we got the chance to enjoy it while it was around.

my plan was to post this last night, when I got home from the celebration. Instead, I drank waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much champagne, got weepy with the bus boys and got home at 5am. There was a trail of my clothes leading up to the spot where I passed out hard.

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