I Went to the Fest and All I Got Was

 A lousy cold sore!

Okay, not true...I did get more than a cold sore.  Although I've lived over 50 years without one so why I "needed" to get one now...just par for the course as the friends that I spent time with over the weekend will attest.

So what else did I get this weekend?  Here's a fun list:

• An enraged husband when the directions to where to park the car were completely wrong.  We ended up in multiple parking lots, none of which were correct and NONE of which had a shuttle service (which was promised by the hotel that we were staying at.)  I think we both came close to nervous breakdowns as we figured out what to do, which leads me to...
• A large parking charge from the valet station.  Of course, I shouldn't complain (seeing the prices that parking establishments charge these days), the valet company did not lose my car (as they did for one of my friends, leading her to believe that it had been stolen, only to have it found over an hour later), making me wait for 90 minutes to get my car (which was parked at an abandoned warehouse by the staff? ) and I could SEE my car from the front of the hotel.  (NEVER give up on having antenna toppers!)
• A "free" t-shirt that barely fits because all they had were XXXL or M.  (I want to be a M, but I've got a ways to go.)
• A $20 cd and I just realized that I don't have a cd player anymore?  I'm sure I do  have a device that will play it, but while I KNEW that my car didn't have a cd player, I didn't remember until too late...
• Mardi Gras beads and a very special Mardi Gras necklace from my favorite Lousiana attorney.  (Okay, so he's the ONLY attorney I know from Louisiana.  Should I also mention that he's a heck of a writer and researcher?  Or that he takes the whole Mardi Gras thing to the next level?) 
• Some good bagels, juice, coffee and mimosas thanks to a dear friend who "smuggled" it in because the hotel did not allow ANY outside food to come in.  (They might want to rethink that as I understand there was a food poisoning incident at the food court.)  The annual Sunday morning brunch would NOT have happened if it were for this wonderful and clever man, who drove 120 miles (give or take) in one day just to make the brunch happen and to spend time with friends.  Which leads me to the most important thing I got this weekend...
• Love and laughter.  (I'm trying to forget all the anger, frustration and stress that had NOTHING to do with my friends.)  This diverse group of people gathers together once a year for the fest.  It is their love of the music of the Beatles that brings them from near and far to come to the tri-state area, but I'm also pretty sure that it is the lure of a brunch really keeps them coming back.  It's not just about the food (although it's always good; particularly since it's not coming from a hotel); it's about the time together.   They are people that I talk to regularly as well as people who I only get to really chat with once a year.  Friends who care about each other and lift each other up, even if only for a brief amount of time. People from all different backgrounds who come together to eat.  We toast each other.  We talk.  Most of all we laugh. And BOY did we laugh the other day.  This group may be diverse, but we all share a bizarre and outrageous sense of humor that will never be matched.   And truly the hour or so that we are able to spend together is magical.  For me it is the highlight of the weekend.

Life might beat us all down (and I KNOW that every single one of my friends has been through hell in one form or another over the past couple of years), friends like these lift us up.  They fill my heart.  (As well as my stomach).  And that is the greatest gift of the weekend.  (It almost makes all the other BS that we all encountered worth it...almost!)