Today, I’m welcoming one of my closest and lifelong friends (and clients!), Stan, into my home in Tahoe for a few days. Tomorrow, another dear and lifelong friend, Robert, will be joining us, and David Neeve—my partner at One Wealth—is coming up to Tahoe to stay at his own place but plans to spend time with us as well.
When I was in my late twenties and had just moved to San Francisco, I realized I lacked a true network of close friends—people to move through life with. I remembered a conversation I had with my father when I was a young boy. I asked him, “Daddy, why don’t you have any friends?”
Heartbreakingly, he replied, “Son, when men get older, they don’t really have friends.”
I made a decision in that moment to reject that notion. I went to my friend Michael and my brother Jonathan and asked them to commit to getting together once a week—for the rest of our lives. Over time, we agreed, we could invite others to join us.
That small gathering grew into a large and meaningful circle—many of whom remain my closest friends to this day. Stan, Robert, and David were among the early members of that group.
After I built my home in Tahoe and decided I’d likely spend more and more time here, I approached David with the idea of starting a similar weekly group up here. Tomorrow night, Stan, Robert, David, and I will be having dinner with ten others from that Tahoe circle. For one special evening, the San Francisco and Tahoe groups are merging.
As someone who doesn’t have kids or a large extended family, my friends truly are my family. I’m deeply grateful that I had the foresight years ago to challenge my father’s philosophy on friendship and instead set an intention to nurture deep, lasting bonds.
For anyone out there wishing they had a bigger or closer friend network—it’s never too late to start building one. I was 53 when I started the group in Tahoe.
