Dear Friends,
I don't know what has been written about the stages of shock, in medical terms, but I have experienced all of them in light of the incredible surprise 30th anniversary party you all threw for me last Friday at Page Design.

Stage No.1: Numbness and bewilderment - Only a very fortuitous, but ill-timed, call from client and good friend, Jim Catchot, gave me about a three minute warning. Even that did not prepare me for the number of very good friends who were waiting in ambush. I am sure my mouth was moving and words came out, but I cannot remember anything I said. Hugging was a good ploy because it gave me something to hold on to. To all of those to whom I did speak, I wish it could have been more coherent. To all of you with whom I could not speak, you are probably better off because you assume I was saying something intelligent to the others.

Stage No. 2: Wait a second! What is going on here? – May 1, 1980 is a date really only of importance to me. And, given the economy and the state of the graphic arts industry, I intentionally kept it to myself until last Monday, April 26. I knew that, by that date, it was too late for any well-intentioned people to do anything but send out a commemorative blog and have a small staff celebration at lunch on Friday. I made it clear to Claudia (my wife), my partners and my staff that there was to be nothing more. Yes, Page Design has been successful, but let's not arouse the gods with our vanity. Let's not be disrespectful of those who are going through rough times. And most of all – this is not about me, but us. The entire staff, and especially my two excellent partners, Tracy and Eric, over the last four years, have been the key to our success. How did this party happen so fast? Why is this all about me? And how much did all of this cost anyway?

Stage No. 3: Acceptance – The celebration went far beyond the 7:00 cut-off time. Once people realized that I was a blithering idiot, they could get on with their own good time of conversing, reconnecting and enjoying the copious amount of food. As the crowd began to thin, though, I saw the next wave – the table of cards, gifts and all of the gracious emails from those who could not make it but sent such heartfelt expressions. And again I had wrestle with my feeling that this is about the 30-year-old thing that is Page Design and not me. I took my time later that evening and the next day reading over the notes. It is such a blessing to have friends, especially ones who can write so well. Those notes, along with the wonderful one prepared by my staff, brought me to acceptance. (It did not hurt either that one friend gave me a box of Titleist Pro VI golf balls!)

Stage No. 4: The Sunday after - I recently bought a new road bike and have been doing quite a bit of riding. I am somewhat of a fair-weather rider, though. I had a ride planed for Sunday morning, but looked out my bedroom window and saw the dreaded north wind had kicked in. My natural instinct was to call my riding partner for the day, Dan, and tell him it was too windy. Instead, I decided it was time to face it and be a serious rider. We rode north along the Sacramento River into a mounting wind. At Discover Park, we turned east and were blown the eight miles to the Sac State bridge. There, we turned around and began the eight-mile trek directly into the teeth of the wind, back to Discovery Park. We kept a surprisingly brisk 14-15 mph pace much of the way, laughing when we could catch our breaths, picking the bugs out of our teeth. As we passed the marker showing only two-and-a-half miles to go, a couple of riders passed us at a pretty good pace. I gripped my lower handle bars and said, "Dan, let's catch 'em". Dan took up the pursuit and I was drafting on his tail. We caught them at 18 mph and they noticed. My speedometer then hit 19, then 20 and finally up to 20.5! Then we passed them (however, I think they were turning off on the Garden Highway exit.) We arrived in Discovery Park with our lungs burning, legs throbbing, our eyes watering and it felt great! We then turned south and the wind blew us the final six miles down to Sutterville Road.

The point of No 4 above? – These days we are all heading into a pretty strong wind. It is a given. We might as well face it head on and celebrate when we can. Thanks to my wife, partners and staff for defying my strong wind and doing a wonderful thing. And thanks to all of you who could come and celebrate or share your good wishes. Success needs a figure head, and I guess that is me for now. But the true success of Page Design lies in the fantastic people who work here, our families, our terrific vendors who make us look good and, most of all, our clients who let us be a part of their success.

Thanks to all.
Paul

ps. Good friend Steve Archibald is home and doing fine. Spent a few hours in ER and got a good tongue lashing from the doctor for the bike ride we took together on Friday. He apologized for his drama, but I assured him that we partied on even after his exit.

Click on the thumbnails below to view photos from the evening.

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