Old friends

This past week I had one of those experiences when you get together with an old friend you haven't seen in a long time and it is like no time has passed. Sweet. Last Thursday morning I answered the phone thinking it was a call for John as the caller id showed a California number. After a little hesitation the voice on the other end said "bertie do you know who this is?" Well I didn't but it had been over a decade since we talked. It was one of my favorite shoe vendors of all times. Brad Finn. We used to call him the Cary Grant of the shoe industry because he is just the most charming man. Ray and I worked with him when we were working for Mercantile (which for me was 1992-1999). We had a lot of fun back thenand made a lot of money for our respective companies. So when he called Brad was in Louisville and driving through Cincinnati on his way to DSW in Columbus and had time for coffee or lunch. I asked if he wanted to come to our house for lunch (which as luck would have it was extra clean since we had a homestudy update interview the previous day) and that I would call Ray to see if he was available. Ray was off Thursday so it worked out perfect. Plus this way Brad got to meet John. Brad is now a grandfather to 2 adorable children (boy and girl) from Ethiopia. It was really special to catch up after so long. I took a longer than usual lunch but was able to make up for it by going in Saturday. Update: Today (9/2/10) John and I received a thank you note from Brad. So sweet. Also rumors today are that CCAA is matching right now!