How are YOU here right now?

SPOILER ALERT: FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO STILL DO NOT KNOW HOW LOST ENDED (and I've met a few of you) do not read the first paragraph or two.

The title of my post refers to what Christian Shephard (his name is Christian Shephard?) said to his son, Jack, right before Jack discovered he was already dead. Christian claims that it is possible for everyone to be in the church at the end of the show because they created the place together. They were the most important people in each other's lives, and their time spent together was pivotal.

I won't get into a debate about whether what happened on the island was real (although I think that it all did happen, and Ben succeeded Hurley who replaced Jack). But I believe that the characters on "Lost" all needed each other to move on. They were family, and their most important moments were spent on the island together.

That being said, this past weekend I attended a wedding at Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, Long Island, NY (see picture at top of page).

When I was at the reception, I felt like it was the last episode of Lost. We were all in a particular place, and we were together. While I was there I got the sense that I meant a lot (more than I thought I did) to the people in attendance, and I learned they certainly meant a lot more to me than I realized.

I felt like these were some of the most important people in my life, and that the time that I spend with them is tantamount to living a full life.

I hadn't seen many of them in a long time. Them refers to people that I roomed and went to school with at Holy Cross, in addition to my friend Pete's friends from Pomperaug Regional High School in Southbury, CT that I had inherited from Pete. They had been to Holy Cross many times to spend the night and party with us, and we had all seen each other a few times since college. The Pomperaug and Holy Cross crew were just as close in Long Island as in college. It was very humbling and gratifying at the same time to know that.

I took the Amtrak from Wilmington up to Manhattan that day into Penn Station. I had never taken the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) before but had taken New Jersey transit. I figured, how different could it be? As it turns out, not very.

After a mad dash to the train after the announcement of which track was posted, I grabbed a seat and went to Huntington station, a hub according to my friend Jesse, to then go to the hotel. Little did I know that I should have gotten off in Hicksville two or three stops before so as to save money on what turned out to be a more expensive cab ride than I thought ($27), but no big deal.

After rerouting the taxi at the request of probably who I, even though I don't see him as often as I should, consider to be my best friend, Ryan, to the Main Event sports bar, I had finally made it. It would be weird to see people I hadn't seen in a year since the last wedding in Jamaica in January 2010 (for Ryan, incidentally), but as soon as I walked into the restaurant it was not. I was immediately welcomed and it was like no time had passed at all.

After some brews, lunch (I ordered sliders, as I tend to do), and Red Sox talk (they talked, I tried to pay attention to the Phillies game to distract myself), we went to the hotel where we chilled in the room Ryan had so kindly let me share with him and his brother-in-law, Mike. I was very lucky that after a change in plans at the last minute that Ryan was nice enough to reach out to me and offer me the option of crashing in his hotel room. He could have just as easily told me to get my own room. But he didn't.

After a parade of people stopped by to visit us while we watched the end of the Red Sox game and later for some reason, "50 First Dates," we eventually got ready for the wedding. I saw my friend Sean, who was recently appointed to head the State Democratic Party of New Jersey. I was glad when I found that out, since the organization within state Democratic parties since the 2008 election has been horrendous. Having worked for the MassDems in 2006 I can also relate to the dysfunction and disorganization that has become rampant. The party needs someone organized and with experience like Sean to turn it around.

Nicely enough, my friend John's wife Casey and my friend Bill's wife Mary (who both happened to be pregnant), offered to drive us to and from the reception so that we didn't have to take the shuttle.

The wedding itself was lovely. Eric, Pete's best friend from home, was the best man, and he gave a great speech. It involved Super Mario Brothers, Pinochle, Holy Cross, and you had to be there. I'm not going to relive it here but needless to say the Holy Cross people got a shout out for being a family that Eric "inherited" when Pete went to Holy Cross.

The whole fun of the entire night lay within the reception. I sat at table 10 with Ryan, Sean, his girlfriend, John, Casey, and some of Pete's relatives. The food was interesting to say the least. I ordered chicken wellington for my entree, but it ended up looking more like the turkey footballs we used to order at Kimball at Holy Cross.

But the drinks were free flowing, and we all tipped generously so the bartenders served us the most, even when they were in another part of the room. When they saw us, they would come back and get us what we needed. Since I had bought my ticket on the LIRR with a $20 bill (the cost was $9.50 off-peak), I got $11 in Sacajawea dollars as change. To get rid of those, I would tip each time I got myself or someone else a drink. Coupled with the ones that we were tipping, the bartenders made out well I'd imagine.

Other people were not tipping, or being drunk and surly to the bartender. Then they wondered why they didn't get served. Gee...

There was a lot of dancing, and at one point the Pomperaug crew wanted to put Pete on a chair and dance around singing Hava Nagila. However, this was never able to materialize. Perhaps the Bar-Mitzvah occurring downstairs from us had something to do with it.

Either way, we all had a great time and I was humbled by the love I got from everyone. Especially mad props to Ryan for pointing out that I deserve better, and that I can always count on him. He pointed out that at times I relied on people under false pretenses who really didn't have my best interests at heart or didn't really care about me to begin with since college. We talked for a long time and he was right that I need to reach out to him and the rest of my friends more.

After the dancing ended and it was time to go home, Mary and Casey drove us back to the hotel where Ryan and I went back to the room and changed (Mike, who was also staying with us, went to bed). We brought some beers outside and went to hang out with Dumpie, Eric, and whoever else I now forget. We just talked (or, as Dumpie pointed out, there was a span of 20 minutes where I didn't say a word as I tend to do). It was great. Then the alarm went off and suddenly it was time to go.

It was a great weekend with great people. I wish this blog could have been more succinct and contain a cooler story. But it was cool to me, and I guess that's what matters for now. Peace.