If you got my letter, this is it.
Thanks for coming to this page.
I figured if the letter meant something to you — if any of it landed — you might want to know a little more before deciding whether to show up. That's fair. I would too.
So here's what I can tell you.
When I first moved to Raleigh, I had checked all the boxes. Nice neighborhood. Good job. Things on paper looked right. But I'd come home, close the door, and feel this quiet thing I couldn't quite name. Loneliness isn't dramatic. It doesn't announce itself. It just sits there.
I met a few people. Then a few more. Nothing formal. Coffee here. A drink there. Someone introduced me to someone else. Over time — and I mean real time, not a weekend — these small, unforced connections started to feel like something. Not a network. Not a group. Just… people I actually liked being around.
That's how NC Social Society started. Not as a business. Not as a plan. It grew out of the simple recognition that other people were feeling the same thing I was feeling, and that maybe we could just get together once in a while and not make it weird.
The gathering I mentioned in the letter —
It's small. Maybe fifteen, twenty people. Someone's bringing food. There will be a drink if you want one. Nobody is going to stand up and give a talk. Nobody is going to hand you a clipboard or ask you to join anything. You won't be put on the spot. You won't be asked to introduce yourself to the whole room.
It's just an evening. A chance to be around people who understand what it feels like to be new, or to want something more than just a house in a nice zip code.
Some of the people there will have been in Raleigh for years. Some just weeks. Some are married, some aren't. Some are in their twenties, some have grown kids. That's the point, honestly. It's not a "demographic." It's just people.
If any of this sounds like something you'd actually want to be in a room for — not something you feel like you should do, but something you'd genuinely enjoy — then I hope you'll come.
If you'd rather just stay in that night, I understand that too. No follow-up. No second letter. No "checking in."
But if you want to come, just fill out the short form below and I'll send you the details. Nothing complicated. Name, email or phone, and whether you're thinking of coming solo or with someone.
That's it.
Hope to see you there,
Cecil
I'd like to come to the gathering.
Welcome To Raleigh & NC Social Society