You, Us..."Hey!" - BONDS!

There are the James Bonds....the fictional super-spy that all of us at some point fantasize about being.

There are the bonds that dentists place on our teeth.

There are the blue-collar bonds that various trades utilize with regard to plumbers, construction workers, etc.

There are the U.S. Savings Bonds with which we were all raised.

Then there are the bonds between a different kind of "us," as in you, me, and we - the people...of the United States...the world...the universe..

The bonds between countries...nations....states...providences...cities and...towns...communities...cultures...employers...employees
friends...families...mothers...fathers...sisters...brothers...husbands...wives...
children...cousins...in-laws and more.

In recent years, I've been hosting reunions for my friends and colleagues from NBC, harkening back to our special days as NBC Pages.

Paging was a bonding experience if there ever was one.  We were young...just out of college...each of us trying to find our way...and we ended up finding each other.

Those days are gone...and we all know it...but we gather together again...every once and a while...in friendship and nostalgia...to honor our original bonds...if maybe making new ones along the way.

We hold on to the past, and yet at the same time, let it go...and create new memories in the present, ever looking toward the future.

When I was caring for my Mom and Dad in their elder years, we shared a new bonding beyond the parent-child ties.  As their primary caregiver, they became my closest friends...if not best friends...and in many ways my adopted children.

Either way, those bonds will always remain unbroken.

And like all noble bonds...they will remain unbroken...forever.

Because they are unbreakable.

Not even by someone like James Bond.