As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized how easily our worlds can shrink.
We have our people. Our routines. Our careers. Our families. Our responsibilities. We become comfortable with the circles we already know.
But some of the people who may eventually become meaningful parts of our lives are people we haven’t met yet.
And that makes me wonder:
How many people who could become part of our story never get the opportunity simply because we stay inside the circles we already know?
That question captures so much of what Forever Friends means to me.
It isn’t simply about taking trips or visiting beautiful places. It’s about creating experiences where longtime friends can enjoy one another while still leaving room for someone new.
That was the heart of our 3rd Annual Forever Friends Reunion: Cali Edition.
We made the Bay Area our home for the weekend, with experiences in Oakland, Napa Valley, and San Francisco.
Some arrived with friends they had known for years. Others came knowing only one or two people.
I had spent months planning the details, but what mattered most couldn’t be planned:
What would happen when we all came together?
Friday in Oakland: “Who Am I?”
Our weekend began Friday in Oakland with our Meet & Greet.
I knew it would be easy for everyone to find the people they already knew and stay there. So I decided to make everyone a little uncomfortable—in a good way.
Before the trip, I asked each person a few questions and turned their answers into “Who Am I?” cards. Each card contained clues about one person, but not their name.
Then I placed each card inside someone else’s welcome bag.
The mission was simple:
Find the person whose card was in your bag.
Suddenly, people were moving around the room, introducing themselves, asking questions, laughing, and learning about one another.
What looked like an icebreaker was really an invitation to move beyond the people we already knew.
Sometimes that’s all we need.
Walk across the room.
Say hello.
And see what happens.
Saturday in Napa Valley: 27 People, One Table
Saturday, we boarded our limo bus and headed to Napa Valley, visiting Chandon, Housley Napa Valley, and Brown Estate.
The wine was great. The vineyards were beautiful.
But my favorite memory wasn’t a tasting.
It was a table.
Twenty-seven people sitting together at one long table, sharing a meal family-style.
I looked down that table and saw different backgrounds, professions, personalities, and life experiences. Some had known one another for years. Others had met the night before.
Yet there we were—passing food, sharing stories, laughing, and eating together like family.
As the person who had spent months planning the weekend, I finally got to stop, look around, and take it all in.
I remember thinking:
This is it.
Not the itinerary.
Not the wineries.
Not the pictures.
This.
Twenty-seven people around one table.
The goal was never simply to get 27 people to California.
The goal was to bring 27 people together.
The night before, some of us needed a “Who Am I?” card to start a conversation.
Now we were passing food to one another across a table in Napa Valley.
When our wine tour ended, we closed the day with the perfect song:
“Thank You for Being a Friend.”
It felt like a thank-you for the friendships that had lasted for years—and for the ones that might have been beginning around that table.
Sunday: Something Had Changed
Sunday, we spent the day exploring San Francisco.
By then, something felt different.
There were no cards. No assignments. No encouragement needed.
We simply explored, laughed, took pictures, and enjoyed being together.
What had required a little push on Friday felt natural by Sunday.
That evening, we came together for our final dinner and one last question:
What are you taking home from this weekend?
People talked about stepping outside their comfort zones, meeting people they might not otherwise have met, feeling welcomed, and thinking differently about celebrating themselves.
The survey afterward echoed those same themes.
One person appreciated that others took the initiative to get to know them and made them feel welcome.
Another described leaving with “a new outlook on ways to celebrate me.”
And one response about the “Who Am I?” activity said it simply:
“It helped us to connect.”
But maybe the best answer came after dinner.
We went back to the hotel and kept hanging out.
Nothing planned. No itinerary.
We simply weren’t ready for the weekend to end.
Friday, I had to create a reason for people to talk to someone new.
By Sunday, I couldn’t get them to stop hanging out.
Somewhere in between, something had changed.
There Is Room at the Table
One thing I hope Forever Friends always represents is celebrating each other, no matter how big or small the moment.
A birthday. A promotion. A new opportunity. A personal victory. Making it through a difficult season. Or simply having another opportunity to be together.
Your moment doesn’t have to be the biggest in the room to matter.
Sometimes celebration is simply saying:
I see you. I’m proud of you. I’m glad you’re here.
When I think about that long table in Napa, I realize it represented more than a meal.
There was room for old friends and new ones.
Room for different backgrounds, personalities, experiences, and stories.
Room for all of us.
Maybe we need a little more of that in our lives.
Twenty Years From Now
Life moves quickly.
Twenty years from now, we probably won’t remember every detail of the itinerary.
But someone will pull out a picture of 27 people around that table in Napa and ask:
“Do you remember this?”
We’ll hear “Thank You for Being a Friend” and remember the wine tour. We’ll laugh about the “Who Am I?” cards. We’ll remember exploring San Francisco and going back to the hotel Sunday night because nobody was ready for the weekend to end.
Hopefully, some of those same people will still be sitting around a table with us.
Because that’s what I want these experiences to give us.
Not simply pictures of where we went.
Stories about who was there.
We weren’t just taking a trip.
We were documenting our lives together.
And maybe that’s what California reminded me most.
As adults, it’s easy to become comfortable with the people and routines we already know.
But every once in a while, walk across the room.
Say hello first.
Take the trip.
Sit at a different table.
Make room.
Because sometimes the people who become meaningful parts of our lives begin as people we haven’t met yet.
Maybe friendship isn’t only about holding on to the people we already love. Maybe it’s also about leaving enough room at the table for the people we haven’t met yet.
That is Forever Friends.
Building community through friendship, travel, connection, and unforgettable experiences.
I was one of those 27 people sitting around that table, and a week later I’m still reflecting on those beautiful memories we made.