So a friend of mine recently became a father.
We've been friends for over ten years now, we met when we were both employed by the same for beerscompany but in different hotels.
We would go out - not just the two of us but a crowd of colleagues - every Friday night for beers, starting at The Crown in Seven Dials and this would in turn become an all night session ending in an indian at the Balti House, also in Covent Garden.
Mmmmm I can still see the huge family naan breads they used to serve and we would devour accomapnied with a CTM.
That's a Chicken Tikka Masala to the civilians.
I was around when he split with his girlfriend of five years and was more than a little instrumental in his meeting his next girlfiend and uiltimately his wife and mother of his child.
We shared a flat for a few years and this was a real batchelor pad - even though one of the batchelor's was gay - and generally only got a good clean when the previousely mentioned girlfriend would stay at the weekend.
Curry's on a Friday, Lasagne on a Saturday, beer flowing, barbecues on the roof of the flat and homemade Long Island Tea.
Happy times.
I then left to go to Manchester and we stayed in touch.
Emails a couple of times a week, the odd phone call, that kind of thing.
I remember popping down for a weekend to help them move into their new flat and I distinctly remember carrying all his bloody CD's up four flights of stairs.
Anyway..
When I returned to London to live with G we kinda rekindled our close friendship and became drinking buddies once more.
No longer downing beer by the pint we had moved on to a more sophisticated fayre of Bourbon and Cocktails.
It was during one of these many drinking sessions that he asked me to be his best man at this wedding and I can honestly say my heart burst with pride at the prospect.
Plus I got to organise his stag weekend,which I have to say was very good.
I don't think Dublin has recovered yet.
And now a year later he is a Dad.
And I get that their lives have changed on a major scale, I get that he is now responsible for a helpless human being and he is now a family man.
I get that his focus must now be his family and his time is precious.
I get that drinks can't happen on the same weekly basis as they used to, or the extreme that they used to in the past.
I get all that.
But a selfish little part of me misses my drinking buddy.
Stupid, huh?
