My good friend Malathi Mahadevan (blog|twitter) is hosting T-SQL Tuesday this month and wants us to talk about Gifts received for this year. And lord there are so many. I get to play Santa at a local elementary school (I’m Jewish FYI) which is always amazing. I have a wonderful wife and kids who are a gift every moment of every day (even when they are being difficult). I have a job (that I enjoy), I’m healthy (moderately), I have a beautiful home and y’all, the people who read all of my inane ramblings about technical stuff. I have an inordinately blessed life. I mean it’s not perfect but what life is?
Which leads back to the important question, what do I talk about?
Friends. I want to talk about all of the friends I’ve made not just this year but over the last few years. I should point out that I’m an introvert. Regardless of how I seem when I’m among people I am. I need alone time, and honestly I’m not overly comfortable with people. Note, that’s people not person. There are lots of individuals I think are amazing I’m just not comfortable with people as a group. I even need alone time away from my wife and kids that I adore.
I say all of that to make you understand that friends are not easy for me. I don’t make them easily, I don’t keep them easily. And yet, the #sqlfamily or whatever you want to call it has welcomed me with open arms, comforted me when I’ve needed it, pushed me when I’ve needed it and just been around to listen to my terrible jokes (and sometimes even compliment me on them) (you people are weird). Recently my wife (who is actually on twitter, if not very often) gave me some grief based on a tweet that I’d made about her. It was all in good fun and we were both laughing about it. And then a friend came to my defense. He didn’t know it was my wife, he thought it was some random person. We let him know but she and I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Her because she has a sense of humor (I’ve been working on it for >20 years now) and me because, well, a sense of humor too, but also because someone came to my defense. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t need it but the thought was just amazing. And it’s not the first time this year either! I can’t tell what a gift that was and how much it meant to me.
I’ll be honest I can’t really tell you how much all of you mean to me. For the first time in my adult life I have friends that reach out to me. That ask me how I’m doing. This is a truly amazing gift and I thank you all for it. And I hope that you never take your friends for granted. They truly are special.