Hi,
I arrived on time and left early. Last night I told the colleague running the lunch that I had to leave early. He said ok.
My friend who "retired" asked me to sit with her.

The restaurant was noisy and the table configuration was wrong so no one could hear my 1.5 minute speech. That's ok.

People came dressed up and in a mood to be nice.
We all took lots of pictures.
Then I left without having to eat (the others' food was starting to arrive when I left).

And my speech went well. I had practiced pronouncing it.
If anyone had heard what I said, they would have heard me speak clearly.

M.