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