One thing is certain. Nothing means more to me than friends and family. Nothing.
Business is a challenge and it pays the bills and my sports teams give me that rush throughout the seasons. But nothing comes close to being with those you love. And rarely do I laugh more than when I’m acting stupid with my buddies.
Over the decades God has blessed me beyond measure with a group of close friends, some of which have known each other since the mid 80s. We call each other “the fellas”.
Today’s fellas derived from a group called “the dwellos” formed at Howard Payne University back in the early 90s but over the last two decades the group has grown to include others diversifying the group’s background and pushing the gang to over 10 members strong. I could name them all, but they know who they are.
As we have all moved farther apart, gotten older, and busier with work and kids, we rarely get to see or even talk to each other these days; especially not as a group at the same time. In the old days, the original members would have to find things to do like create the classic home movie Attack of the Killer Spoons in 1992.
In the summer of 2007 one of those rare times occurred at my home in Mansfield at “Fellas Weekend III”, in which most of us were able to gather for a quick reunion. What started off as a fellas take-over of Fort Worth and the Stockyards, ended with the filming of a new movie that paid homage to Spoons called Revenge of the Forks.
It took us 5 years, but in the fall of 2012 it was completed and released. As of this writing, it has well over 75 hits on YouTube, setting some new records. Just not sure which ones…
The world premier night was another one of those funny and rare fellas events. Spread all over the place between Denver, New Jersey, Dallas and San Antonio, we grabbed a hold of modern day technology to join together and watch it live as one. We started out with Facebook chatting, then moved to a conference call party line where the next 10 minutes was spent in total chaos as each of us tried to give the other a hard time. It had been more than 5 years since we had spent any kind of time together so a lot of ribbing had to be done.
A few minutes later “Dave” started the live streaming of the 8 minute horror classic we had created and the laughter began. Though a little more technology was used than in Spoons, Forks was truly a perfect sequel. After we spent another 10 minutes telling each other how stupidly hilarious it was and catching up some, the night ended as most of us had to tend to kids or get ready for the next day.
Life always happens.
I’m not sure if the fellas will ever unite again under one roof for Sliced by the Blades or some other stupid event. With kids and life being the way it is in your 40s, it may be eternity before we have that kind of time, or at the least we will likely be learning the secrets to wheel chair racing. But one thing is clear – we are all greatly blessed to know each other and have been brought together over the years.
Most people spend their lives hoping to have 1-2 friends they could trust with their lives. We just happen to have about 10 and none of us really know why.
I love my fellas. More than most of them will ever know.
God is good all the time and all the time God is good.
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." Colossians 3:16
(c) 2012, J. Brady
"I say it how I see it and make no bones about it.”
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