Dear Diary

We were in the Ozarks at Bull Shoals, Arkansas last week visiting with Dolores' relatives. They have met there every Memorial Day for the past 30 years. Aunts, uncles, cousins and their children attended with the oldest being 90 and the youngest 4 months. I really blew my diet with some outstanding food. we played basketball, volleyball, horseshoes, badminton and a little fishing plus the boating on the lakes. Then at night we had a bonfire which we sat around. Very relaxing. On our way home we stopped at Ron and Mary Hauser's place and, along with Jim Copeland and his wife, reminisced about the old days at Nilehi. Ron is a very good artist and we bought a horse lithograph to match one that we bought last year. Jim and I went way back to grammar school and Boy Scouts. Now we're home and getting back into the groove. Hopefully by this time next week we will be closing on a small loft condo downtown that we will use on weekends. On June 10th we will fly to Denver and attend a wedding in Estes Park at the Stanley Hotel (The Shining). On our way to Estes Park we will visit with Pat (Rice) Foss. More later.

Dear Diary

I had breakfast this morning with Howie Moldofsky, Larry Fisher and Rod Bartels. While we were there at "Once Upon A Grill" in Northbrook I noticed other tables of people meeting with old friends and for that moment living back in a time we all remember so fondly. Since our table was all guys the topic of this girl and that girl came up, (don't tell our wives) and we covered issues of finance, politics, business and old friends. Amazing how much you can catch up on in such a short time. If I didn't have my honey-do list and the hockey game I could've stayed for another couple of hours. As we reflected on the past we discussed current issues briefly, mid-life issues briefly and families briefly but the focus seemed to always go back to high school. We are not alone. My friend, Emil Lazar, has always said "you can make new friends but they will never replace your old friends" and that is true. This reconnecting is a rather contagious thing. When I do my phone calling for the most part, even though they may not remember me, we talk freely like we have been friends for 50 years. Life challenges come up and how those challenges were met. I hear the joy in their voices as a new, old, name come up. Modern technology has made everything so accessible and that includes e-mailing an old friend and after that a phone conversation.As we are approaching the end of our lost classmate list I find more time to enjoy who we have found. I predict that we will have located everyone form our class by the end of the year and I hope we don't find any more in that purple box.
This has been a rather bland entry but give me a break, I didn't walk today and walking is my idea factory. My wife cringes every time I take off on a walk for fear of what new idea pops up.
My new ending is "The Best Is Yet To Come"

I HATED HIGH SCHOOL WITH EVERY BONE IN MY BODY

This was a recent comment I heard while doing one of my phone sessions trying to discover long lost classmates. I felt bad that such resentment still festered in a person 48 years after we graduated. This classmates's complaints seemed to center around the cliques which were prevalent then and still are today in schools. There were the beautiful people, the athletic people, the extremely intelligent people and the people with outgoing personalities. Some of our classmates were lucky enough to have more than one of these attributes and this was how the groups were formed. I, unfortunately, was not in any of those categories but I had my friends and we had fun. Everyone wants to be noticed and be included but that was not to be. I tried to convince this person to give it another chance since years have passed and our group of diverse personalities have melted down to a common ground where all we think about is how to enjoy our wonderful age of gold. I hope we are past that time that so divided us into castes and we can open up our arms to embrace everyone and enjoy with them the accomplishments, no matter how large or small, and just say "Hello Trojan".

I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE HIM

Yesterday we went to a surprise 70th birthday party for a friend whom we've known for over 25 years. There were 30 people at the party and except for a few they were all old. I don't mean chronologically old but physically old. Bent over, balding, shaking, overweight. It doesn't have to be that way. Yes life takes its toll on us all but there are ways to slow things down. We have heard them all, diet, exercise, mind stimulation. Genetics enters into the picture but we can't blame all of our problems on mom and pop. Stress from work or tragedy add into it and the ease at which we can be so readily entertained without moving is also a factor. I haven't retired yet but I can see where that would lead to a sedentary lifestyle. The most exhilarating time of the day for me is while I am power walking to the health club and back. I might be tired after work but the walk refreshes me instantly. Irony would be me getting hit by a bus on my walk and he was on that bus riding to the casino.