I gave a speech last Friday. It wasn’t a business presentation, though we have more than one of those scheduled in the coming weeks. This was personal. I felt little in the way of nerves; I overcame most of my fear of public speaking long ago. Besides, while the speech was given to a room full of people the real audience consisted of only two.

Unlike others who spoke and read bullet points off their phones, I wrote out my remarks. I used the paragraphs in the way others used bullet points, glancing down at them instead of reading them. Still the exercise of writing out my thoughts, seeing them on the screen, changing their order, and editing them down was a helpful one. The writing process is the way I hone my thoughts.

Preparing the text involved a memory exercise in which I rarely indulge. I spend so much time looking forward that I can struggle to live in the present. I have worked on this and continue to do so, but this speech was more an exercise in reflecting on some of the best parts of my past. I scoured back through some of my earliest memories, walked through years of childhood ball games, and reminisced on a few long walks in some of the most beautiful places on earth.

I don’t know how well I communicated what I wanted to get across. Only my audience could answer that and I haven’t spoken with them about it yet. I wish I had done better, had refined the words more, had made more eye contact, had varied my intonation more, all of those things. I would wish those things no matter the outcome—that is the perfectionist in me. In any event, it was a wonderful weekend spent celebrating two wonderful people. I may have needed galoshes instead of dress shoes, but my clothes were rented so that is no longer my problem.