Fly on a (Facebook) Wall

I couldn't help but notice an old co-worker of mine with whom I was friendly but not go-out-and-do-stuff-together friendly, had voted "Yes" in the Legalize Same Sex Marriage Poll on Facebook. From there, several of his friends -- all fellow co-workers of ours -- chimed in:

I really don't get the furor over this. Two consenting adults love each other and want to formally commit to sharing their life together with all the advantages, joy, challenges and everything else marriage brings. And this is bad because????????

i agree. also, it's not like marriage between a man and a woman has shown such success. isn't there a 50% divorce rate. so maybe some of these people that are against same sex should spend less time worrying about same sex and more time focusing on why heterosexual marriages are not very successful. just a thought.

Andy, you said it perfectly. It is so hard to find love in this world, so when you find it, you never let it go. Why are these concepts so darn hard to accept?

Although I wasn't really surprised by their warm and thoughtful comments, something about "eavesdropping" on this conversation really touched me. You see, sometimes I beat myself up for having stagnated so long at the organization where I knew these people, in a job that really wasn't me. Sure, I was advancing in responsibilities and salary, but anything even remotely related to public relations was never something I'd never aspired to. But then I see stuff like this and remember why I stayed on as long as I did -- the people. Truth is, if you totaled the friendships I made during my entire K-12, college and first-job-out-of-college experiences -- and there were lots of them -- you'd still come nowhere close to the number of close friends I made at The Wire, as it was known.

The job actually had two chapters -- half in the Washington bureau and half in New York. Granted, getting the company to move me to New York was certainly another reason I remained loyal for as long as I did. But it was the relationships that kept me coming back for more.

In fact, just last week I celebrated my birthday with three gals I met from my years in the capital, Jean, Kandy and Paula. (I met Paula on my first day back in December 1993!) These three have seen me throw my share of highs, lows and Colombians. And then before I could even post the Facebook comments above, I got a text message yesterday afternoon from another old co-worker of mine, Kelly (who is in town from Arizona, where she recently moved with her husband) asking me to have coffee tomorrow. Then, around 1 a.m., I was riding the subway home from work when I ran into yet another old co-worker, Simon. I was so happy to see him we managed to go out for a late-late night catchup drink. (He just graduated from architecture school and is doing great, charming and handsome as ever.)

None of us have ever been able to put our finger on what it was that made The Wire such a magical place. But as the experience fades further into the distance, all I know is that I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. Maybe my alter-ego, Mary Richards, said it best on her final day at WJM-TV: "I just wanted you to know that sometimes ... I tell myself that the people I work with are just the people I work with. And not my family. And last night, I thought, 'What is a family, anyway?' They're just people who make you feel less alone ... and really loved. And that's what you've done for me. Thank you for being my family."

Thank you, indeed.