Laissez le Bon Temps Roulez

With all the drama in my life, sometimes I stop and wonder what would have happened if things were different. About 9 years ago, I was working in CT, and got to go to New Orleans for a business trip. A conference sponsered by Tulane Law, about marine insurance.

Have you ever met someone and just "clicked" instantly? Like you've known each other for years, and are just comfortable right away with them? I was in New Orleans, with some people I work with, and they had set up lunches and dinners with people they did business with. Ok, attorneys (these were claims people, claims usually equals litigation, which means lawyers). We went out for dinner and drinks one night while we were down there, and Tom and I just "clicked". He was a few years older than me, and an attorney from a somewhat prominent family.

We went out drinking on Bourbon St, and just had a great time. Nothing ever happened, but we ended up trading faxes (this was before email became popular!) - he would send me the redneck joke of the day. Nothing serious, just lighthearted stuff (like sending him an inflatable sheep - our minds were really in the gutter).

I was actually going to go to Jazz Fest in New Orleans (which is at the beginning of May) and crash at his house. I had the plane ticket bought already, when I got the job in NYC and decided to accept it and move there. And the rest is history (engaged and married in little over a year from that). But sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I didn't get the job, if I had gone to Jazz Fest.

And yet, why is it when you start to think about the "what might have beens", it's always positive? Who's to say life would be any better than it is now? It seems to me (and maybe it's just me) that I tend to paint this rosy picture of life, overlooking the fact that while I may have some issues currently, there could have been different, or worse issues if I had chosen a different path?

PS. His house did survive Katrina,and I sent another inflatable sheep in case the previous one didn't survive the looting. He's now a partner in a law firm, and I'm on the firm's newsletter email list.