The last several weeks have been consumed with thoughts of Profile. Our advertising people were busting it trying to sell the thing. The editorial staff was swamped with running down feature stories for the edition while still balancing the daily grind of our regular newspaper releases. All in all, it was a taxing process. So, Saturday was a welcome sight. For weeks, a handful of us had targeted that day as our time to decompress. We all referred to it as the day we would all get to be friends again.

Then Saturday arrived. Though beaten and exhausted, we drug ourselves out for an evening at the Cannon household.

For those who are unaware, Tiffany has a passion for cooking. Those of us on staff — particularly a sports editor accustomed to the dietary habits of the bachelor’s lifestyle — enjoy the opportunities to partake of whatever she’s come up with. This particular meal was featured breakfast cuisine fit for royalty. After dinner and the obligatory groaning that accompanies overconsumption, we broke out the board game Scene It: Music Edition. Following weeks of high stress, extra-long hours and the occasional snippiness that plagued the newsroom, it was nice to get the opportunity to relax, hang out and rediscover the things that we all liked about each other in the first place.

What ensued was a three-hour stretch of relaxation in which we learned certain key things about one another.

First, we figured out that David B. Snow has more knowledge regarding late ’70s and obscure ’80s music than any one person should have. Secondly, we figured out that Tiffany, though a wonderful cook and gracious hostess, has perhaps less musical and pop culture knowledge than any 28-year-old currently not in a coma. But to her credit and the benefit of her team, she knew nearly every dance step that popped up on the screen. She lacked only the A-Town Stomp, a dance I have since resolved to learn. Then, we learned that David B. Snow’s musical knowledge apparently does not advance beyond 1991.

But most importantly, we realized the value of strong relationships. The fact is that we spend more hours together on a weekly basis than we do with our own families. It is one of those necessary evils that goes along with this business. But through that, we have developed an almost familial bond that allows us to stress together, occasionally snap at one another and laugh together with little provocation.

And when it’s all done, we’re not publishers or sports editors or managing editors or advertising directors or composers, or salespeople, we’re just us and able to appreciate one another for having an embarrassing amount of trivial knowledge or having barely enough rhythm to say “A-Town Stomp” or being unable to resist laughing at bodily function humor. And knowing you’re appreciated makes any job just a little more bearable.