Just This Moment

Tonight was a big night. A really big night. I sit on the board of a local neighborhood association. And for the last 5 months we have been wrestling with a board member who fancies himself a revolutionary. He’s an interesting guy. For about the first 30 seconds. And then it gets old. And then I want to shove a stake through my left eye.

We have been trying for the last several months to figure out how to get him off the board. We finally came up with a plan. We sought legal counsel. We held countless meetings. Tonight we held a vote of the membership to decide our revolutionary’s fate. We were all nervous. Our secretary spoke. I spoke. Others spoke. It went well.

The votes were counted. 61 in favor of voting him off the island. 3 in favor of keeping him. The 3 votes included his own. Only 2 friends in the whole mess.

He was as stand up as anyone I’ve ever seen. He accepted his defeat graciously. He said he was taking the vote to heart. He said he appreciated seeing democracy at work.

Jeff, who hosted us in his space, said it felt so much like family to him. He was nearly breathless when he said it. “Its like a great big family. We fight. We argue. But we still love each other in the end.” Jeff set the tone for the entire evening. God love him.

When we realized we’d won, there were hugs all around. I even hugged the revolutionary. And he hugged me back. Then we all went out for drinks. And bar food. I was drunk with happiness and box wine and deep fried olives.

On the way home, I thought about the fact that despite all the trouble in my life, this entire evening had been filled with moments that were extremely perfect. They were gilt edged and dripping in honey. Just this moment. And the next one after that. Tonight, nothing else mattered.