Auld Lang Syne 2016

    Christmas came and went as did the New Year 2016 rolled in and I felt empty no joy in Mudville. Without my Mom it just did not feel like Christmas. My Mom loved the whole production of Christmas the wrapping the shopping the decorating and she always cooked up big meals. We often had lots of family around at those times so the house was full of laughter and crazy relatives playing pranks on one another. Sometimes it was Dads side of the family and some times Moms and often a mix of both. We would have to bunk on the floors and couches giving up our beds to the older family members. It has been some time since I have been to a large gathering of family I think the last time was in the year 2000. The last Christmas our immediate family was all together was 1992. My sister Debbie would become sick with a rare cancer and she passed a few years later.

  The reason I have not been on here much as I have had some financial problems and unable to work because of health issues so I have no cash for internet connection. It was like going through withdrawals not having my net connection. There is so many times I think of something I would like to blog about but with no net service I am not able to write it down. By the time I get to a computer to type it out I forgot the thought completely. I have been playing around with a couple book Ideas and was going along pretty good but seem to have hit a wall creatively and the words just will not come the flow has gone. I started quilting to keep me busy and that also has become a dead end I just can not muster up much enthusiasm for anything.
      
   My family has suffered some losses of people that meant a lot to me my sister Debbie as I said. My Aunt Phyllis passed and I had not seen her for some time. She had moved into my parents house to live and she and my Mom and I all worked at the same plastic factory for a time. She was such a sweet giving loving person and we had a lot of fun at work goofing around but also getting the work done. She moved out and back with her family and soon began helping my grandmother who eventually became unable to do for her self and moved in with my Aunt. My Grandmother passed on and not long after my Aunt Phyllis became ill and passed. I was unable to attend either one of their funerals. My mother had gone to help take care of my Aunt when she got sick and was there when she passed. A few months latter we lost my Mom. The loss of my Mom was a big blow to my emotional state and I still have not gotten used to the fact she is gone. I have often picked up the phone to call her only to realize once again she is not there. So maybe my emotions are clogging my creative flow.

   I am thinking maybe it is my Medications I take to try and keep my intestinal problems in check. They make me feel sort of out of it and in a state of constant mellow that I think maybe is blocking my creative side. I have not been painting or creating much of anything.

   I have started scanning family photos and working to put names to faces. After my Mom passed away I inherited all her photo albums. She had started writing names on backs of photo's but was only a quarter of the way through the massive pile of pictures. I want to scan them and place them on disc so anyone who want copies can have them. This way not just one person has all of the family pictures. It is always sad when a flood occurred or god forbid a fire and all the old photo's are lost. This way there will be copies with someone at all times. I also have transferred all our old home movies to DVD and I hope they will keep better than the old reels of super 8 16mm and 8mm and VHS God I am old!  

   Some times it is hard while scanning pics as they bring back memories. The furniture we used to have being I am almost 50 was had some funky stuff over the years. The 40's and 50's furniture was not so bad and was hand me downs from family and garage sales. That 70's stuff however was colorful and bright oranges reds rust browns and Oh there was what they called shag carpet had thick long yarn look. It was all the rage then but looking back it was ugly stuff. If you ever get the chance Google 70 style furniture. The plates we ate on the things that hung on the walls the cars we had all these things in the background of the photo's hold memories and I find my mind wandering while scanning. Thinking of people places and things gone by and wondering what ever happened to this or that.

 
 Growing up I figured I would be dead way before 30 so I hurried to cram as much life in as I could. Funny I say Life but I had no clue what that even was back then. I ran from family not wanting them to drag me down (Had to live my own life my way) and just about the time I am settled and ready to accept family they all start passing on me. For those who do not know passing means death seems a less blunt word and rolls of the tong much easier. I also like using the word wake instead of funeral maybe because I heard my parents say wake. When they grew up the deceased person was kept at home until the burial the family would set up all night with the deceased to keep watch over them thus the phrase Wake.  



   Our family has suffered many blows my Father was forced by health reasons to have to move into a convalescent home many miles from our home. My Mom was forced to sell the house and move to be closer to my Dad. It was strange to drive down the driveway that last time after she sold the house knowing someone else would be living in the hose I grew up in. I went back once and the people who owned the house let me walk through it but it was strange, although the rooms were still the same they were painted different colors and had strange furnishings in them. All the memories were still there but that feeling of being home was gone.

   When I looked for a house to buy I found one a lot like our old house the floor plan is not exact but close to our old house and as soon as I walked in I knew it was the place I wanted to live. I instantly felt at home. Well those are my first ramblings of the new year 2016. May this Year bring only good things to you and yours and God bless and keep you all safe happy and healthy.        
             

    

My blood pressure is up just making an appointment with a Doctor

   What ever happened to the old Doctors seems all I get anymore is a 20 something or 30 something telling me my pain is due to my age. I swear the next Doogie Howser looking Mo-Fo that spews that shit at me is in for an old man ass whooping. I never see old Doctors any more even when at the Veterans Hospital and that place at one time seemed to be full to the rafters with old Doctors.
   Hard to find an old country Doctor that is not attached to some super HOSPITAL in some form or fashion. They have to send everything out and get 2nd 3rd and 4th opinions. When I was a kid the Doctor looked at you said it was this or that and gave you a script to fix it. Now the are attached to a computer screen and typing away as they talk to you. Hell for all I know they may be playing angry birds and just nodding their head now and then to make me feel like they are hearing me. More often than not its a Nurse who does all the work and the exam so WTH are the Doctors for just walk in look at the info spew a few words if you are lucky and walk out of the room?
    I know it upsets some people when someone says I miss the old days but this is one time I think I am in the clear saying I miss one on one with the Doctor ask questions and getting answers. Now they hand you a WWW.go F yourself.com address for you to get the answers you came to them for.  Soon I feel they will put us on conveyer belts where we pass though a scanner to get a diagnosed then clean out our wallet at the end and bill us for the rest. I am sure the bill will list 20 some Doctors that claim to have looked at our info even if it was just glancing in the direction of it BILLABLE!!! Cha Ching. 

   And WTH is with charging me if I am late or miss an appointment but it is fine for them to overbook and make me wait hours past the time I was told I had to be there or cancel my appointment with not even a call to let me know. Sorry ass hole you are not on my list and shut the glass door in your face. It feels often when trying to get an appointment like I am trying to get into fricking Studio 54 or something (sorry sir you just are not sick enough to get in) and the bouncer tosses your ass to the curb.    
God forbid you are sick and using the Veterans Hospital the call goes something like this. VA.....Hello how may the VA help you. Me... I am sick I need to see the Doctor...... VA  Long pause not can you wait a minute just silence I often wonder if they hope I will hang up I swear they have bets and giggle to each other wondering how long the dumb ass on the other end will hold in complete silence. Me................Are you still there?.........VA........Yes Sir I am checking............I can hear the huff in the voice like I am taking time away from something they would rather be doing. VA........... Silence.....................click and I am sent off to another person who asked the same questions without so much as a kiss my ass from the first person............I tell the 2nd person I am sick need to see the Doctor tell them my info sorry not my department click I am off to another person or back to the person I started with. Long story short the Appointment is next month ummm hope I live that long hope its nothing important or life threatening. To be clear you are told to go to the nearest Emergency if you feel it is life threatening but they do not tell you you will be billed for that visit and it is not covered by the VA. ANYWAY LOL not a happy camper and that is my rant for today I am usually calm about such things but when you do not feel well you do not want to be held on the phone for an hour just to make an appointment with the Doctor and tell everyone and their brother why you need to see said Doctor. Most of the time the VA is very good but at times its like they bring in temp help to man the phones. OK thats enough Dave shut the hell up now LOL  RANT OVER!

Pressure Cooker Ramblings

roll your eyes if you wish but the mood is constricting and pressure is building and all the talk talk talk and more talk of how to fix it only seems to cause another problem everyone is running in different directions hurling emotionally charged  verbal chatter at each other but no one seems to be hearing the other persons side words words and more words hurtful words the anger is building everyone wants to be heard everyone wants things done their way differences of color and religion are dividing us making many feel hate for those that do not look or believe as they do two steps forward and ten steps back genders pitted against one another to prove who is the better the stronger the smarter zooming in on others bed rooms telling who when and how one should love another person everyone wants to be heard but no one seems to be listening causes and effects power and powerless rich and poor young and old pitted against one another like gladiators battling to the death as the powers that be watch in the stands in glee thumbs up or thumbs down who is making the call?  The steam is rising the pressure is building and when it blows we stand on the side lines wringing our hands and crying out why! why! why? the world is spinning out of control global warming? global cooling? bees are dieing? things to ponder one way or the other produce produce consume consume create mounds of toxic trash and waste but do not dump it in my back yard communication towers and wires strewn about the land poring a barrage of information some true some false some real and some fabricated and those lines are become blurrier and blurrier every day burning looting destruction seems to be the answer to a question no one wanted to answer the possible last result of years of hear me! see me! I'm here I'm here I'm here you have to stand for something or you will fall for anything but do not stand to close to me with that shit drop in drop out get real get over it let it go be a man put on you big girl panties grow up do the right thing exercise your rights but not to loudly is what we are told and hey while you are at it keep your opinions to your self the pressure is building can you not hear it hissing do you not feel the heat did you not get the memo did you not see the meme running in all different directions and no one wants to be bothered as long as it is not in their own back yard your God vs my God or the lack there of like some game that no one really wins but in this game lives are at stake see it my way or die killing one another over the fact we do not see eye to eye?  poisoning our water our food our air as cancer runs ramped but hey you caused that by the way you lived your life? pump them full of pills to cure what ills inject them infect them they will blindly do as they are told with no thought of long term effects nature has what ya need but they are working hard to make that illegal I can hear the hissing I can feel the heat can you?  its a pressure cooker and I feel it is going to blow

No More I Love You's

  Where do I fit in to this whole thing called life?????????????????????????? been asking myself that question as long as I can remember but never seem to find any solid answer. It sounds like a simple enough question but I'll be damned if I have even the smallest clue.

  I wrote that a few years ago when it seemed my life was more a question than an answer. Now it is years later flash forward to a day I never thought I would ever ever in my life time have to endure. My phone rang and I happily picked it up thinking it would be a friend or family member calling to say hello. The voice on the other end was familiar but something was wrong there was a pause a stumbling of words and then like a brick wall the words came tumbling from the phone Mom's gone. OH MY GOD! was the words that came to my lips No! was the next. The call was from my sister and through her tears and stammering voice I was told the news of how when and where. After the blow of the news we consoled each other by talking for a while about growing up and how our mother had touched our lives. We talked about the good times and even the bad and as I hung up the phone it seemed like a dream and not real at all.

   I had received one other call  in my life that had hit me like this and that was the death of my sister who was fighting cancer. That call was a shock but in a small way more expected because I knew she was ill and may not make it as the cancer had attacked so vigorously and in the back of my mind I knew she may not make it. The call about my Mom was a shock, unexpected, abrupt as she seemed so full of life and healthy. I had seen her a few weeks earlier and thought to myself wow she looks really good for an old broad as she would say. She had stopped by with my sister to see me on her way back from a visit to family members something she did a lot always running here and there visiting family and friends. My father had been ill for many years and she had stayed very close to his side and not been able to travel much so I think she was trying to catch up for lost time.

  We talked that day about family history and she said we needed to get together soon and go over the who's when's and where's so the history was not lost. She also said something I just let go by like the wind but her words now ring in my head (there may not be much more time to do this).  As she left that day I gave her a hug like I always do and told her I loved her and watched as they backed down the drive tossing my hand in the air giving a wave as I went back into my house not knowing that would be the last time.

   A few weeks later my phone rang and it was my Mom, we talked for almost 2 hours and had some good conversation about this and that and we laughed something we had not done much of in a long time. Now this call was strange in that it was very hard to keep her on the phone for any length of time and for her to talk on the phone for almost two hours was just short of a miracle. I called her the next week and once again we talked for about an hour and a half and when the call was ending she said you should feel privileged its not just anyone I would talk this long with on the phone and she laughed, we said our good byes and our I love you's then I hung up the phone and went back to my day not knowing it would be the last call. Now I keep hearing the song by Annie Lennox in my head No More I Love You's.

  At this time my emotions are fresh and raw and at times it seems so unreal and at others it rings all to real. The emotional numbness is changing to realization that its not a dream and I will not wake up and shake it off. I feel deflated like all the air has been sucked out of my lungs and I find it hard to breath and yes the tears come poring now and then as the realization gets more and more defined within my brain. I may be an emotional mess but my Mom did teach me to be strong so I know I will get through this but this time I will have to do it without her mothering, that often annoying constant mothers prodding and guidance.

  Many say when someone passes I wish I had done this or said that. I do not have those feelings with my Mom because I had a relationship with her where we said what we thought to each other even if at times it angered each other. The things said were never in a manner of hurting each other it was just being truthful straight forward no sugar coating. That is not to say there were times I wished she had a bit more of a filter or tact when it came to her truthfulness but looking back at it now it is something I am glad she did with me.

   As a parent I think you learn that your children are not carbon copies of you or each other and each has their own personality feelings and behaviors. I think in many ways I am a lot like my Mom and in others we were worlds apart. Many of my good attributes came from her and yes there are those that some may see as not so good. She and I had our times when we butted heads and that stubbornness would kick in and neither would budge an inch but over time we would work it out and come to a point we agreed to disagree. She taught me to use my humor to get through rough times but also that there is a time to cry and a time to laugh. Her and I would be the ones at a funeral cracking jokes and making people laugh. Some would see that as inappropriate but as she would say I think so and so or the deceased would want us to celebrate their life and not morn with our head held low. I found that hard to do at her memorial because my wing man or my co instigator was not there by my side.

  I could go on and on and tell you many stories of my Mom good and bad and there will be many more blog entries about her I am sure.  But at this time all I know is her physical being is gone but I know within me she lives on and also with my sisters and their children.

  So back to the statement I started this post with (where do I fit in to this thing called life)? I think the best description I can give is one a friend Dian left on my Facebook page about being a thread in a tapestry. My take on it is I am but one thread in a large tapestry called life and I am here so the next thread has something to cling to so the tapestry will take shape and not just fall apart in a pile of threads alone. My Mom was my brightly colored thread that I clung to and although she is gone and in time the colors may fade the thread is still there holding tight giving support to the next row of threads. I only hope I can be as strong of a thread and give support to the threads that come after me.

Nature Seems To Come To Me

   I sat in silence today in a folding lawn chair no sounds other than the leaves that had fallen from the trees and were being swept here and there and gathering in clumps in the yard and along the fence lines. I was sitting there thinking to myself many thoughts of nothing really just random blips of this and that all jumbled up together in my mind. I was relaxed and for the most part in my own little world. The farm fields have all been harvested around me leaving behind open fields and other than a corn stalk here and there that had been missed by the machines the fields look so bare. The trees around here have just about dropped all their leaves and look like nude soldiers standing guard at the edges of the fields. It is not warm out today but it is not cold it is just right the temp hovering around 45. I look up at the sky and the grey and white puffs of clouds cover as far as the eye can see just small spots were the sun shines through in streams of light reaching down to the ground. In my own little world I do not notice what is going on to the right of me I am focused on the sky and lost in thought.

   I am brought abruptly from my little world with the sound of something scampering through the leaves. I turn and watch three squirrels darting back and forth chasing each other up a tree and down again. I watch as they jump from branch to branch like little trapeze artists. I find it amazing how they can move so fast. I watch them for some time as they hunt for acorns and fight each other over them. I am not sure how long I had sat there and I had even dozed off for a bit it was just so relaxing and calm. My cat nap was interrupted by a snorting sound coming from behind a large tree that borders the south side of my yard. I turn my head to see five dear slowly working their way along the property line. I had just a few days earlier dumped a large bag of apples in that area for them to eat. I check each day to see if they had found them but everyday there they lay in the same spot I had placed them. This was a strange time of day for them to be moving around and I was surprised to see them.

   They had found the apple pile and were munching away as I watched being very still as not to spook them. As I sat there one of the deer became curious of me and started to inch its way closer and closer to me.  In the summer they would often hang along the property line and watch me as I did my gardening and my movements etc seem to not bother them. I had assumed they had gotten so used to me being in the yard that they had determined I was no threat. It is not uncommon for them to be as close as eight feet or so to me while I am in the yard. This one deer seemed very interested in me and kept inching closer and closer  until it was about two feet from me. I was thinking how cool it was and tried not to move just as it was inching a bit closer a car went by with a loud muffler and sent them all darting and running in a panic. In no time all I could see of them was their white tails bobbing behind them as the ran into the woods at the edge of one of the fields. I sat there in awe and wondered to my self  just how close that deer would have come if not for that damn loud car going down the road. 

   I must not have a threatening vibe it seems animals sense something in me and are not afraid of me. About 10 years ago I lived in a trailer park and would sit in the small back yard and watch the birds and squirrels. I started feeding them peanuts and had them so used to me that they would take them out of my hand. There was one I called Buddha Mamma because she would eat and eat until her belly stuck out then climb up the tree and sun her self on a branch. One day I was feeding them and a cat was in the yard so they all ran up the tree. The cat was batting and pouncing on something in the grass so I walked over to see what it was the cat took off and left what ever it was laying there in the grass. At first I thought it was a mouse but when I got closer I could see it was a chipmunk. It ran over and perched itself on my shoe and and looked up at me as if to say thank you. It stayed on my shoe even as I started to walk. It at last leaped off and scurried away. With the cat gone I started feeding the squirrels again. I felt a twinge on my right legs and I thought it was a muscle spasm but as I reach to rub the spot I felt something furry on my hand and it startled me. When I looked down it was the chipmunk I could tell because it had a distinct marking on its head. I must have startled it as it had me it let out a chip and took off.

   Not to long after I caught a glimpse of the chipmunk popping its head in and out of the grass. It was picking up the peanuts I had tossed out for the squirrels. It did not take long until this little chipmunk had me under its spell and I could not sit outside without peanuts or she would chirp at me until I went in and git some for her. She moved in under my trailer and each morning would sit under the area where my bed was and chirp until I got up and got her some peanuts. She lived under there for a few years and would climb all over me and often fall asleep on my shoulder when I was outside in the lawn chair.

   After a few years living with my little peanut hoarder I found a house and was moving. When I removed the skirting from the base of the trailer I found mounds and mounds of peanut shells. She had shells stashed in the cinder blocks and the ground underneath was covered with them. I hated to leave her but knew if I trapped her and took her with me she may not like the new place or be harmed not knowing the dangers of the new area. The last day when I pulled the trailer out of the park she sat on a stump and chirped at me as I pulled away. People who did not believe me about my pet chipmunk I would just put in the movie I have of her climbing on me and collecting peanuts, they then become believers.                    

Hints on Family History

   So my last post I talked about researching family history. I am still at it and have made some great finds. By joining some of the many Facebook pages that have groups of people related to or from the areas that my ancestors came from I have been able to see photo's of faces and get info I may have never found on my own. I had joined a few of the pay for sights years back and although it was helpful I found many of the people on those sights to be very stingy with their research.I can understand some of their feelings as many people who did research for profit were accessing their info and then selling it. I have found the Facebook pages to be much more like a family sharing our ancestors and their info. I have also found that I get stories about the people from those that knew them or have a parent uncle aunt etc who knew them. I find I am getting a much better look at who these people were from these groups than I ever did with the pay sights.

   Find A Grave is a new free sight that has tons of info.photos,obits and locations of burial paces. Also on this sight there are links to others like wife,parents, and children. It is a great sight to check out if you have not heard of it before. The sight covers graves all over the map Europe,USA etc and i was able to find some graves in England I would have maybe never found else where.

   I have also had luck with a new trend called found photos that have many sights and blogs popping up. These blogs and sights are where people load up pictures they have found in the trash, garage sales,flea markets etc. Some of the photos have info written on the backs others have no clue as to who the people are or where they where taken. They post the photos in hope a family member will see them and be able to put a name to the face. I found two ancestors by scrolling through these sights one photo at a time,

   I have also found that if I have a name and a birth date etc I have had luck when entering that info into google and was surprised the info that would come up on said person. I have also lucked out with google finding photos of people by just entering their names in and looking around at what comes up in the search area.

   Never underestimate the hord of pics etc that Mom Grandma Uncles Aunts have stashed away. If you ask they may share and often you can find a wealth of info hidden away in a box. Also never forget to ask the older people in the family to tell stories about the ones they knew often they will give you a hint that can unlock info for the past.

  Many people do not understand my need to know who I came from and I find it hard to put into words to those that do not have the same addiction to delving into the past that I do.I am sure they have hobbies or things they like that I just can not fathom why so I tell them the same way I tell people bungee jumping you have to try it before you knock it.

      

Wow 1984 Was That Many Years Ago?

   A few months ago I received a notice on my Face Book page that my 30 year High School reunion was going to be on July 25th. It was to be split into three different venues one on the 25th was a BBQ at one of our classmates houses the second was on the 26th and more formal and took place at a rented banquet type place. The third and last was a coffee clutch in the Town we grew up in at the Court House lawn. My first thought when seeing the notice was wow has it really been that long? so many years and it feels as if I walked out of that High School for the last time just yesterday.

   I was not sure if I wanted to go at first but found that many of my good friends were going to be there so I fired off my check and my RSVP for the BBQ not the formal I have in the past few years developed a sort of claustrophobia in large groups inside buildings. If I am in a store like Wall Mart and too many people are in the same isle I have to get the hell out I feel closed in. Not sure what that is about and could be some effect from medications or maybe I am just a bit cracked either way I just do not do well in those types of situations. I planed also to attend the coffee on the 27th because that was also an outside in the open venue and I could deal with that.

   This would be my first time attending the reunion because I was in the Army for the 5 year and was on the missing list for the 10th. I was living in Pittsburgh Pa for the 15th broke and going to school I could not afford to make the trip home. I was back in Michigan and living in a town nearby but I was not able to get time off from work for the 20 year and then was battling cancer for the 25th. I had been lucky enough to reconnect with many of my classmates via my Face Book page and could share in their lives on the keyboard but had not seen many since the day we tossed our caps into the air. Once I got on Facebook and reconnected I found many lived still in and around the town we Graduated from and I found it funny that we shopped worked played etc in the same town yet never ran into one another.  Over the years after we graduated I would see a few people now and then but I had lost touch with so many people that were very important to me back then and I always wondered how they were doing etc.

   Once I reconnected on Face Book I found it strange that they had kids and grandchildren I mean I know we are all older but in my mind they were still those 18 and 19 year old kids from the graduating class of 1984. I had known many of them since kindergarten so in many ways they were like an extension of my family some I felt so close with I called them my brother from another mother and my sister from another mister well that was not a phrase back then but you get my meaning I hope.  Many I only knew their Mothers name as Mom and that is what I called them also and they called my Mother Mom. In our Town everyone knew everyone in some form or fashion through church, sports, school, work etc. Someone always knew someone who knew someone who knew someone so it was not easy to get away with much growing up unless you were very careful of who saw you in town. I once was walking in town skipping school and smoking a cigarette before I got home my Mom had been informed probably by someone in a car passing by and mind you this was before everyone had a cell phone.    

   When I graduated all I wanted to do was wash the dust of our town off of me and I had it in my mind once I got away I would never want to come back. It was not that our town was a bad place its just I wanted to see the world and become something and felt my small town would only hold me back from my dreams.  I find it so very funny how I saw things when I was younger compared to now.

    Well back to the reunion. As the day got closer I felt a mixture of excitement and a bit nervous about going, almost like that first day of school each year when you have been away from most of your classmates for a whole summer. The difference this time is I had been away from them for many summers and winters so much had happened and changed in my life and theirs. I wanted to attend but every thing I do in my life now depends on my health and if I will feel well enough or not is always a toss up. It always seems when I make plans to do something I get sick and have to miss out on what ever it is. So I made sure I got lots of rest and watched what I ate etc so I would be up for going. I am not able to eat while away from the house and have to eat at least five hours before I plan on going anywhere so I make sure I use the rest room before I leave. Long car rides are hell so I rarely venture far from home. So the day of the BBQ on the 25th that started at 5 I ate breakfast that morning and nothing else the rest of the day so I would not have any problems while catching up with old friends.

   As the day got closer so many memories rushed into my mind of times we had had places we had gone teachers,janitors,pep rallies,sports, tests, music,clothing,bus rides my mind was reeling. I would bust out laughing at some memories that popped into my head and the people around me would look at me like I had lost it. I tried to explain what I was laughing about but most of those times was a you had to of been there type thing so it was lost in translation for them. It would be so great to be back with those that had been there and understood me in a way no one else could. 

   I got myself ready and loaded my car with things I wanted to give friends and some vegetables from my garden also the items that I was asked to bring for the BBQ. And soon I was off still feeling a bit nervous not sure why just the unknown I guess for some reason I work things up in my mind and often its the worst scenario. But I was also excited to be able to see people face to face and catch up. I got there early and hauled all the goods I had brought with me up to the spot were a tent had been set up with tables and chairs. I was met by my classmates wife and gave her a hug and chit chatted for a bit. My classmate and his family were gracious enough to have the gathering at their house and for some reason I had flash backs of some wild parties I had been at back in our school days not that I thought this would be that wild but the thought did enter my mind none the less.

   The party was a lot of fun and it seemed time went by so fast. I wanted to have more time to talk and catch up but its hard to cram 30 years into a few hours when you have 60 or so people talking all at once. I was able to catch up with a few people but as I say I wish I had more time. It got late and too soon it came time to leave so I said my goodbyes and piled back into my vehicle to drive home. As I drove home I laughed to myself at myself for thinking the night could or would be anything other than a fun night.They had a banquet night planned for the next day but I was not going to be able to attend that. Over the years I have become very uncomfortable in large crowds more so in inclosed areas. I seem to be fine outdoors but if inside I feel claustrophobic. So needless to say I did not attend the second party. 

   I am glad I went and look forward to the next one. Sadly we have lost a few people over the years and it was hard not to see their faces there and I pray I see all the ones from this year return and hopefully more will be able to make it to the next one.  I do not care what anyone says I know the CLASS OF 1984 ROCKS!!!!!!!!!