You can check out but you can never leave

[slo town]

Hola:

A couple of weeks ago I decided to take a "permanent vacation" from BITOG. Well, I'm back.

Long story short, Wayne and I commiserate offline about the misery of our tinnitus. During that conversation we agreed that my participation had value for both sides of the equation, meaning both BITOG and me.

Couple Wayne's and my conversation with the fact that one of my dear friends passed away recently... I met Mark in 1959, meaning we've been friends for 64 years. In fact, there are 7 or 8 of us from the neighborhood who have remained friends for 64 years. All of us met in first grade. Amazing, eh?

With all of us having reached age 70 we had been talking about having a reunion of some sort. That ended up being in March at our home in Templeton, which happened to be my birthday as well. At our age seeing the sunrise tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

My wife, Sue, my two son's Jimmy and Travis, plus Jimmy's wife Mary, put on a fantastic dinner and wine party. Everyone from the original neighborhood came, wives included. Some traveled from as far away as Alaska and Texas. One of the guys, Mark, was the first to arrive at 1PM. One of the other guys, Gary, was the last to leave at 1:30AM. Everyone was happy and healthy and to say we had a great time would be an understatement of gigantic proportions.

I think all of us felt a private sense of relief that we finally had our reunion. At our age nothing is guaranteed.

We have a YEARS LONG text thread that is active on a daily basis. Mark seemed to go silent in July. Someone asked what he was up to. Maybe he was away on one of his Harley road trips with his Texas buds. If so, why no pics? Instead he told us he wasn't feeling well because of some weird cardiac issue that had just come up. He wasn't worried and assured us he was going to be fine. Mark died of heart failure on August 9th.

Given the timing of Mark’s passing, was having the reunion coincidence or was it God watching over us? Take your pick, I’ll leave it for you to decide. So, besides Wayne's and my conversation, there's also the "here today, gone tomorrow" reality. So, I'm back.

Y'all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Scott

====

That's me, second from right. That's Mark, fourth from right. Every single guy there - we all met in 1959!!!

 

[Malo83]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you Scott, glad to see you back.

 

[Jdeere562]

Welcome back!

 

[spasm3]

I like reading your posts! Welcome back!

 

[frankbee3]

Scott! Glad to see you back! I am dealing with tinnitus. Fortunately mine is mild until I get tired, then the intensity increases and the sound warbles. I am starting to notice that it is has effects on my mood lately.

I try to enjoy time with my friends which are living far away now. I am glad you were able to have your friends get together for a reunion. It is important and good for the soul…

 

[Astro14]

I’m very sorry for your loss, Scott. It’s good that you had that reunion. Nothing is guaranteed, that is certain.

I am genuinely glad to see you back on BITOG.

 

[vavavroom]

Hello again and my condolences.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Sorry for your loss

Welcome back to BITOG! We are always glad to see you on here

 

[wavinwayne]

Welcome back! You are blessed to have so many lifelong friends.

 

[dnewton3]

Welcome Back!
Keep yourself on the positive side; you've got plenty of opportunities to contribute here at BITOG.

 

[Pablo]

Group of friends from 1959?

I bow down to that alone.

Welcome back. I was bummed when you took a hiatus, permanent style. Yes glad you came back!

 

[Donald]

We had a Zoom call awhile ago with a bunch of us from a college frat who graduated around 1975/1976. It was said to hear that several people we knew are no longer with us.

I belong to a church camp in CT. Have been going there since I was born. My mother since she was born (I think). My great uncle built our cottage in 1904. Anyway we were there for many weeks each summer. It's a safe place and most parents just let their kids out to play even when young. So there are a few people there whom except for my brother are people I have known pretty much my whole life.

It's good to have you back at BITOG. No one can stay away for long.

 

[slo town]

I’m very sorry for your loss, Scott. It’s good that you had that reunion. Nothing is guaranteed, that is certain.

I am genuinely glad to see you back on BITOG.

Astro, you being a pilot and all...

Interesting fact about the guys and where we grew up. We grew up in the heart of Silicon Valley before it was even called that. Strange thing, I was the only one to get into the computer business. Three of the others were commercial airlines pilots. The guy on the far right flew F-14s off the Carl Vinson, later retiring from American.

Scott

 

[slo town]

Hello again and my condolences.

Sorry for your loss

You are blessed to have so many lifelong friends.

Group of friends from 1959?

I bow down to that alone.

And with respect to Mark's passing, we are still stunned by it. He was the first of the group to go. Mark was an outstanding man. Losing him is a loss even for you guys. There was no one more fair and considerate of others than Mark was.

As time went on we realized we had a very special relationship with each other, but the reunion we had made us realize just how fortunate we all were.

Scott

 

[Sam_Julier]

Glad you are back.

 

[bbhero]

And with respect to Mark's passing, we are still stunned by it. He was the first of the group to go. Mark was an outstanding man. Losing him is a loss even for you guys. There was no one more fair and considerate of others than Mark was.

As time went on we realized we had a very special relationship with each other, but the reunion we had made us realize just how fortunate we all were.

Scott

First off I am extremely glad you are back on here Scott. I have enjoyed many of your posts on here. It’s people like you on here who make this a reality good forum and place.

I had a patient at the high end retirement center I worked at who was in his early 70s. On that Saturday evening I was asked by my coworker to go check on him… I listened to his heart beat with my Littman 3100 electronically aided stethoscope. His heart beat was grossly irregular and very concerning to listen to. His blood pressure was elevated but not super high. He said he felt funny but nothing more than that. His oxygen level was near 96 percent on room air. I told him that I would come back and check on him in a little while. I go into our computer system to read up on his medical history… That made had coded aka heart stopped 5 times while in the hospital and ended up in icu prior to being discharged from there to our facility. Well about 45 minutes later I went to check on him again and listen to his heart again. It sounded much, much more like a normal sinus rhythm. He said he felt a lot better and he did look better. I told my coworker to keep an eye on him and I told her my findings in reading his chart from the hospital. Well I heard that he passed away in his sleep that Tuesday morning… I was not surprised. A physician note from the day before on Monday said she strongly encouraged him to go to the hospital that day. He didn’t want to go. It was his choice and it was his time.

So yeah it was like here today gone tomorrow. Like you said you never totally know at times.

Your friend evidently was dealing with a whole, whole lot even months before he passed away.

I’m very, very glad for your sake you all had that get together before he passed away.

It’s times like that or having something like that happen that can really get our attention and make us think of things in a far different spectrum.

In my line of work I have seen many things that most normal people don’t see all that often. I have had to “ pronounce “ as expired aka passed away residents that I had taken care of and loved. That was rather hard at times but it was part of the dance as I like to say.

My perspective is a fair amount different due to that and many, many other experiences.

I am very glad that you had that get together with all of your friends from childhood. And that you have the perspective that you have .. it helps tremendously.

Again I am very, very glad that you are back on here. If you ever need anything all you have to do is send me a message.

Sincerely, Bradley

 

[Astro14]

Astro, you being a pilot and all...

Interesting fact about the guys and where we grew up. We grew up in the heart of Silicon Valley before it was even called that. Strange thing, I was the only one to get into the computer business. Three of the others were commercial airlines pilots. The guy on the far right flew F-14s off the Carl Vinson, later retiring from American.

Scott

Small world! There is a chance that I know who he is, if you‘re willing to PM me his name. I don’t recognize him from the photo, but I don’t look like I did 30+ years ago, either…

 

[slo town]

First off I am extremely glad you are back on here Scott. I have enjoyed many of your posts on here. It’s people like you on here who make this a reality good forum and place.

I had a patient at the high end retirement center I worked at who was in his early 70s. On that Saturday evening I was asked by my coworker to go check on him… I listened to his heart beat with my Littman 3100 electronically aided stethoscope. His heart beat was grossly irregular and very concerning to listen to. His blood pressure was elevated but not super high. He said he felt funny but nothing more than that. His oxygen level was near 96 percent on room air. I told him that I would come back and check on him in a little while. I go into our computer system to read up on his medical history… That made had coded aka heart stopped 5 times while in the hospital and ended up in icu prior to being discharged from there to our facility. Well about 45 minutes later I went to check on him again and listen to his heart again. It sounded much, much more like a normal sinus rhythm. He said he felt a lot better and he did look better. I told my coworker to keep an eye on him and I told her my findings in reading his chart from the hospital. Well I heard that he passed away in his sleep that Tuesday morning… I was not surprised. A physician note from the day before on Monday said she strongly encouraged him to go to the hospital that day. He didn’t want to go. It was his choice and it was his time.

So yeah it was like here today gone tomorrow. Like you said you never totally know at times.

Your friend evidently was dealing with a whole, whole lot even months before he passed away.

I’m very, very glad for your sake you all had that get together before he passed away.

It’s times like that or having something like that happen that can really get our attention and make us think of things in a far different spectrum.

In my line of work I have seen many things that most normal people don’t see all that often. I have had to “ pronounce “ as expired aka passed away residents that I had taken care of and loved. That was rather hard at times but it was part of the dance as I like to say.

My perspective is a fair amount different due to that and many, many other experiences.

I am very glad that you had that get together with all of your friends from childhood. And that you have the perspective that you have .. it helps tremendously.

Again I am very, very glad that you are back on here. If you ever need anything all you have to do is send me a message.

Sincerely, Bradley

Wow, Bradley! What a thoughtful, heartfelt message! Very appreciated.

Regarding your experience in that retirement center, Mark did have his aortic valve replaced 5 or 6 years prior but he had been feeling fantastic ever since the surgery. In his final hours they suspected failure of the valve, either from infection or calcification. It all happened very quickly.

A few other pictures. The B&W is Mark and the guys at my birthday party. Mark's in the center holding our family dog, Penny. I'm standing in back, second from left. The color pic is Mark's wedding. All the same guys. Mark is in the vest. He loved his vests! That's me standing on the far right.

Scott

 

[Pablo]

You guys were all draft age. I know this because I missed by 1-2 years. Anyone go to Vietnam?

 

[slo town]

You guys were all draft age. I know this because I missed by 1-2 years. Anyone go to Vietnam?

We were in the lottery era of the draft. Numbers were drawn based on birthdays - so there were 365 numbers. The year of our draft they took up to #117. Mark was #17 and joined the Air Force. He served stateside and was based out of Travis AFB the entire time, working as an aircraft mechanic on the C-5 Galaxy.

One night I drove up to visit Mark on base. He was able to take me to one of the C-5s that was sitting in the maintenance dock. I got a tour and saw every inch of that thing, even climbing up inside the T-tail ladder and standing up there, looking down at the incredible machine underneath me. Wow! How times have changed - a civilian getting a tour like that without any kind of clearance.

The night of the draft lottery, all of us rented a condo on north shore Lake Tahoe and partied our brains out, probably lowering our IQs a point or two, or 5. We didn't watch it on television. Instead, we partied our brains out.

I vividly remember getting up early the next morning to buy a newspaper so we could find our fate. I had my Austion Healey 3000. It was a cold morning and it struggled to start. The starting process was so labored I actually remember the battery cables starting to smoke in the truck mounted battery. Weird what you remember.

Anyway, I bought a newspaper at a convenience store. I actually remember my hands shaking on the drive back. Once back we all stood around a table and opened it up to see the results. Besides Mark, John was drafted as well, he joining the Air Force as well. He served stateside too.

My draft number? An incredible #358. I've never met anyone with one higher. So I went off to college where met my future wife Sue.

Scott