My wife’s face was barely visible across the table, so strongly backlit by the blazing sun that in essence she was a silhouette. The occasion that brought 14 of our friends together in a small restaurant by the marina was my “først fødselsdag i Danmark,” or in English, this was the first time I was celebrating my birthday in Denmark. Of our 14 friends, only three didn’t work in film. The art conservator, graphic designer, and social worker all married into this crazy business via their wives participation. It was a lively bunch of well-accomplished conversationalists of whom all are world travelers, though some are more obsessive about travel than others.
The delight of the day was the company. After brunch at the restaurant, the celebration continued at our apartment with coffee, tea, and dessert. Some of the assembled group hadn’t seen the place before and with the sun streaming in, our apartment looked spectacular. There’s hope for summer.
You may wonder what we talked about. I do too. It was a long afternoon and the range of subjects and gossip too numerous to recall in detail. The imminent demise of the organization that my wife and her colleague, TSM, also present at the party, co-founded 23 years ago was a constant source of conversation. Many of those present had at one point or another worked for or with them. One can never escape the chaos of Trump in the White House though Brexit was also a concern because it will directly impact some of those who came to help me celebrate. We had a great time solving the world’s problems without any way of actualizing our solutions. It’s such a joy to spend time with friends. I’m glad my birthday gave us a good excuse.
