The luckiest fortune of my first term was the friendships I forged with what began as the under-30s caucus, but got branded the "brat pack". Roger and Shirley Sowry, Bill and Mary English, Tony and Kara Ryall have become the closest of friends. Many wrongly assumed the strong friendships between the four of us meant that we agreed. We have been on opposite sides of many of National's policy, conscience, and leadership debates. Our annual week-long shared holidays rotating between the upper and lower of the North and South Islands over 30 years have enabled us to enjoy watching our 16 children grow up together.