I had a great lunch today, with an old friend I hadn't seen in a few years. We met when we first worked together for the same Member of Congress. A long time passed now we traded latest news about our former coworkers, our current jobs, and stories only that people who have done our jobs can understand.

The difference in the end is I left that world, he stayed for a bit longer. I respect his choice but glad I took my different path. We shared sympathy over the problems we had to accept as part of our daily life but had to face with the full knowledge our best efforts would likely bring little improvements to the issues at hand.

Politics, it's a cynical life. But regardless it's mostly people who approach the job with the best of intentions, who want the best but live in the world of grey. I think that the chance to have an honest discussion about the reality of this life of grey is what raised my spirits today. Only a handful of people will truly know what I experienced on the Hill. Today I met with one of them.

You have to salute those people living a life of grey.