"Pals"

You may remember some of the films of the Eighties that starred a group of young actors that became known as the "Brat Pack." This group, collectively, gave us some memorable films including two in 1985, The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire. One actor who starred in both of these films, Emilio Estevez, went on to play William H. Bonney in 1988's Young Guns.

Alongside Emilio, Kiefer Sutherland played Josiah Gordon "Doc" Scurlock. Doc was the poet warrior of this band of outlaws and he narrates the closing scene of the film as he shares the fate of each member of the group. It is the last line of his narration that lends itself to the title of this post. Sutherland says, "The epitaph read only one word...'Pals'."

I want to share with you something that has been said already by many others in this community; this collective of Disney enthusiasts, who proudly wear the badge of "geek". We're a compassionate and caring group! True, we are not the only collection of like minded individuals who celebrate our friendships. There are others can be equally as compassionate and caring. But, we are who we are, so we celebrate the inspiration that we provide and receive from each other. We have each others back in this.

We're a giving group; don't believe me? Have you taken a look at the current Dream Team Project total? We are, in big and small ways, working together to create and share some magic with terminally ill children. Not a bad thing to do.

But we also give each other little bits of magic from time to time; magic beyond our friendships and shared memories. Sometimes these bits of magic arrive in boxes. This was the case for me on yesterday.

I have a friend, a pal, if you will, who knew that I was unable to attend the recent 20th Anniversary celebration at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is Doc's effort to spread those recession vacation dollars around and experience other parts of the world. (Long story - another post.) So, the post arrives and in it I find:

Thank you Ryan! Pal!

More to follow...

Postscript: you can't tell from the photo, but there are at least four of each park guide map. My pal knows that (for some unknown, idiosyncratic reason) I get four copies of all the ephemera I collect. Strange? Maybe. But its me and my pal(s) look out for me - they have my back.