Friends = Family

Just yesterday, well, actually two days ago now, on Saturday, I was creatively planning to document an amazing, colorful fajita dinner for my weekly blog post. About eight of us had gathered for fajitas, rice, beans, pico de gallo, tortillas and even cake for dessert. We ate and ate, we were stuffed beyond belief, and the only theme running through my mind for the blog was "food + friends = family." Patrick, Robert, Jake, Pimp (yes, that's what we call him), Manny, Hector, myself, and give or take a couple here and there, have been regularly dining together and enjoying homecooked meals. These meals have brought us together to share jokes and stories about our days, and all the while I've been thinking "food + friends = family." It's the perfect equation by which we can celebrate our health and good company, and through these meals we are definitely the product of the equation now, a family.

And as is with all families comes tragedy. Early this morning a dear friend, Alex Holbrook, decided to take his life. As shock surpassed and reality set in, so came the tears and strong embraces. Without knowing what to say, we set to do what we do: cook. Bacon, eggs, potatoes, orange juice, toast, coffee and lots more coffee was prepared. For a while the food went untouched. No one really had an appetite for anything other than Kleenex and coffee, but soon, Alex's friends and family who traveled from Phoenix, Prescott Valley and Mayer, sat down to eat.

Although I had just met many of these people (and honestly I don't really know any of their names), I realized my new found mathematical equation had been proven "food + friends = family." We had been brought together by tragic circumstances, and if only slightly comforted by food, we had the solace of each other.

It was quite apparent to me today that Alex touched a mountain of lives. Tonight was a testament to that when friends from work, high school and college gathered at the Mayer High School football field in his memory, in as little as 16 hours after his young life ended. Candles flickered, hugs were shared, and sobs were heard. There was no food at the memorial tonight, which made me realize there is validity to my equation even without the variable, and "friends = family. "

We'll never know the real reasons behind this heartbreak, but I hope we can see its depth. Our friendships are equal to a love that goes beyond food and drink and weekly dinners. It may not be expressed as it should be, but I hope it can be felt every time we are together. It's something that shares magic, beauty and tragedy all at once. It may sound complicated, but it's math really, simple math, "friends = family."