The New and the Old (In a few days!)

In the last couple of weeks I have had a rare opportunity to relive some past memories and be inspired by what our future could be. Last week I went to an ACDC concert with my family (old) and had a blast listening to, and remembering, some good old classic rock. It was a good time that brought back a lot of memories but at the same time made new memories for my 10-year old son (new). This past weekend I got the chance to go to St. Louis to celebrate a fraternity brother's birthday (40!)(old) and visit with several of my frat brothers that I haven't seen forever. They haven't changed a lot but enough to let you know that they are now dads (new for some). We did tell quite a few stories about fatherhood (new) and saw a lot of us in our children. Yesterday I had the privilege of watching the inauguration of President Barack Obama (new). Whether you like the man or not I think you have to say that you felt the power of the change-over. I think our country is ready for a change. I am sure it won't all run smoothly or quickly but I feel that at least he will be trying some different things. His speech, to me, was one of those that made the hair stand up on my arms and will be remembered for many years to come. Remember, it is good to remember the past but it is also good to move forward.

Old Friends

My wife and I got to see some old friends from college last night. He is in the military and they are in the middle of another move. It was nice to see them again and get to know their entire family. Their girls are getting big and are good kids. It is amazing to me how different peoples' lifestyles can be. I personally cannot imagine moving three times in five years. They seem to not be too phased by it. I think it would knock my whole family out of whack. We are pretty set in our routine and the kids really enjoy where they are at. I guess all of us would adapt. You don't really have an option. I admire them for being able to move and make a fresh start so many times. I guess I just think of our family as the typical Midwest family that stays pretty close to home and remain, for the lack of a better term, "simple" people. By the term "simple" I mean enjoying the simple things in life like watching your kids play in the backyard or having a summer cookout with friends. Simple to me means being happy with the everyday things that life provides you such as a smile or comment from your kids. I have a feeling of being safe and relaxed knowing that my family is living in a small Midwest city where things are a little slower than the big city. Don't get me wrong. I do like to travel and visit interesting places but it sure is nice to have a place you can call "home". I am not saying that my friends have it wrong. It is their life and if they enjoy it that is wonderful. They thing that really made me proud last night was when they said that when he retired from the military that they would love to move back to the Quincy area. To me there is no bigger compliment.

My parents always took my brother and I on vacations and we enjoyed them and didn't always know how lucky we were. It was nice to see the way other people lived but I always thought it was nice to say "We're on our way home!". I am proud to be from the Midwest and traveling, or living, in other parts of the country has always made me appreciate where I came from.

A Perfect Day

Yesterday was a great day! We had a lot of fun as a family. My son had one of his friends over in the afternoon. He hadn't seen his friend in about a year. He now lives in Peoria. They get along great and I think his friend is a good influence on him. His buddy is quiet and very polite. I am not saying that my son is not polite but his friend seems to have a calming influence on him. They had a blast playing PS2 and war. At around 6 or so we all went to the St. Francis picnic. All through the day I kept thinking that the heat and wind was going to blow up one heck of a storm but it never happened. It was still pretty warm at the picnic but there was a nice breeze. The kids had a blast running around with their friends and my wife and I had a good time chatting with friends. I left the picnic at around 8 and the boys were right behind me. My wife and daughter stayed a little longer but were home around 9 or so. When everyone was home my wife and I sat out on the patio and the kids played out in the yard. A family of friends stopped by at about 9:30 and we had a great time talking and watching the kids run around and play flashlight tag. As I told my wife, "This is what summers are all about!" Anyway, that was my perfect day.

Update on Busy Day

The chili cook-off was a little disappointing. Only one of the chilis really got my taste buds going. My favorites were two soups. The Patio had this delicious BLT soup and County Market had this killer Portabello Potato Soup. It was fun to get out on a cold day and have some good conversation with friends. My son played pretty well in his basketball game and did a really good job listening. He learned a couple of things. He learned how to front the post and how to screen out the shooter when they are shooting a free-throw. At the teacher get-together we had a lot of fun and got to watch two good football games. The Pats and the Giants in the Superbowl! I could not imagine playing football in weather with a wind chill of -23 or so. Frozen Tundra INDEED!

A Friend Revisited

I returned home yesterday from a visitation and funeral. I left Thursday after school and returned Friday after the funeral. It is nice to be back home but seeing my close friend was truly special. I have not seen him in a long while. We spent almost the entire time at the visitation, and at his uncle's house afterward, reminiscing about all of our adventures as teenagers. I feel that me being their really lifted his spirits, and mine, and took us both back to a time when we had no worries. The thing that was amazing to me is that we shared these memories and each of us seemed to have the exact same warm feeling about these specific times. I know that sounds weird but after so many years of just keeping memories to yourself you begin to wonder if you embellish on them in your mind to make them more desirable. In a way, it was validation, in our minds, that we have lived full and happy lives up until this point. We both spent a lot of time laughing. We even took the time to talk about some of the important things in our lives going on currently. You know, bragging about our kids and wives, how our jobs were going, etc. We talked about points such as "What are the advantages and disadvantages of private school?", "Large schools and small schools?", "Should kids be playing sports year round?", "How much of what we learned have we put to use in our lives?". Deep conversation, right? Somehow it didn't feel that way. It was amazing how we talked. I mean, we haven't seen each other in around fifteen years and we started talking like we hadn't been apart a day.

Friends are truly special! I know that all of us are guilty of this, taking friends for granted, but I think we should all step back and take a look at how lucky we are to have close friends and people that love us. Who knows, we could be the next person to be celebrated at a funeral. Wouldn't it be nice to know that we all took the time to talk and stay in touch with our true friends, and family? As we both said several times, it would have been nice to get together under different circumstances, but at least we got together.

Reminiscing

An email from by best fried from high school started it all. I haven't seen him in probably fifteen years or so. Anyway, I got an email from him last night. The email was not a good one. His sister, who raised him, died yesterday morning from cancer. She was a good woman, obviously. My friend, who we will call "John", is one of the most inspirational stories I know of. He did not have a good home life until he moved in with his sister and her husband. John was always well behaved and at the top of his class. John was a hard worker and loved sports, especially baseball. He was in my class from the early years. John worked hard so he could attend college, which he did, and became a nuclear engineer. He has a wonderful family and enjoys coaching his kids in baseball. I have always respected and admired John and I am deeply sorry for his loss.

As I am thinking back I remember a lot of good times with John. He caught in baseball and I pitched and played shortstop. He was a heck of a good catcher! He was skinny for a catcher but he was tough as nails. We won our conference all four years in high school and our senior year we had five MVP's for our team. We were two of them. I remember going out to his house (his sister's) and watching movies, hanging out, and eating pizza after his sister got home from grocery shopping. One time, when we were playing tackle football down at the school, John got drilled and broke his collarbone. I drove him to my house and I remember him saying when it happened that "It doesn't really hurt". As we rounded the last curve to get to my house he said "Ok, now it does!". We posed for choir pictures in high school and we weren't even in choir! How did we get away with that? The picture made the yearbook! We spent a lot of time chasing girls in different towns. We had girlfriends in Manito at the same time and girlfriends in Delavan at the same time (the one in Delavan later became his wife). He had a purple Gran Torino in high school. What a beast! I remember getting in trouble one time because I missed my curfew because the "beast" wouldn't start. I, with a couple of friends including John, also remember going home between final exams in high school and getting to watch the Cub's 21 inning game. We had many good times and it's amazing that some of these things that occured so long ago can still bring a big smile to my face. So this is to my best friend from high school, although we have times in our lives that are not joyous, don't forget all the good times that have made all the bad times worth it.

Culver Stockton Homecoming

It has been 17 years since I graduated from college. Geesh! Has it been that long ago? I attended Culver Stockton College from 1985 until 1990(Yes, I was on the 5 year plan!). Those days were some of the best days of my life. As a freshman I made many friends from all walks of life. I did not join a fraternity my freshman year. When I was a sophomore my best friend and I decided to give fraternity life a try. We became men of Sigma Phi Epsilon. In the next four years we had some of the best times and made some of the best friends a person could ever ask for.

This year I am going back for Homecoming. I won't make all of it and I don't even know if any of my fraternity brothers are going to be there. I have some "old" students of mine that are also alum and some friends that still live around here from other fraternities that will be attending some of the festivities. I just want to see some old faces that take me back to the days when we all had it made. My fraternity brothers and I did almost everything together. We went "out". We went to see movies. We participated in Greek Week. We loved intramurals and were all very competitive. We went back home with each other to experience another "home town" and had some great parties at "the old frat house". Yes, we didn't always get along but when you put 10-12 guys living together, in one house, there are bound to be some differences. We learned to live with them and in the process became close friends. To this day I know that any of these guys would do anything for me if I asked. It is a great feeling to have friends like that.

17 years! Where did they go? I sure hope that some of my students are lucky enough to have some of the experiences I have had and develop close friendships like my fraternity brothers and I have.