Hump Day: Santiago Aragon

Santiago and I want to wish you a happy hump day!

So last night was my annual Christmas dinner with two friends, R and L. R is a straight, married female and L is a straight single female. Both are older than I (what's age but a number, right) so occasionally when the conversation revolves around television shows from the 50's I'm lost. The three of us met at the theater and I'm not sure how long we've been doing this annual dinner. Over 20 years, at least. I missed one year because of health issues but otherwise we've been going strong since the late 80's.

When we started this tradition there were four of us...the fourth was a gay single male. I do not wish to speak ill of the dead so suffice it to say that his participation was often sporadic. He passed away about five years or so ago from complications of AIDS. The sad commentary is that he turned from a fun-loving guy to a bitter and obnoxious hater who was difficult to be around.

For nearly a decade we've met at Portofino's, a fine Italian restaurant. The three of us always do it proper, with a starter, bottle of wine, entree, and dessert with coffee. The wonderful thing is that we are not rushed and usually take about two hours for dinner, conversation, and gift giving. Last night was three and a half hours! This was primarily due to a delay between starter and our salads but it gave us time to chat.

I always look forward to this meal with friends; we've all agreed that it's nice to spend a couple of hours with good friends and forget the holiday madness. I hope it's a tradition we continue for many more years.

What special time do you take for the holidays?

BEHR HUGS