My dad often said that a good friend could be someone you haven’t seen in a long time, but when you see them, it’s like you were together yesterday.
Last night I was in a party room in the back of a restaurant with sixty people. Many of them I haven’t seen since May of 1984. Last night it was like we haven’t skipped a beat, even though it’s been 14,691 days since graduation day.
Nobody remembered the struggles we went through those first four years in the 1980’s. Nobody remembered how tough those Cathedral teachers were, but how well they prepared us for life.
We talked about winning home runs and come from behind victories against Roncalli and Scecina. We talked about the last keg we tapped. We talked about making out backstage in the auditorium. We talked about our classmates in heaven and we all smiled like it was 1984 all over again.
The hot chicks were still smoking hot. The jocks were still capable of putting on the pads, but what really surprised me were the introverts. They had the best stories of the night. They had the best view from those days we had together between September of 1980 and May of 1984. In those 1,357 days, they were able to see the drama from the front row.
I ended up in the backyard of one of my classmates until 2:30 in the morning. The breeze was a bit chilly, the sky dark with clouds and a moon in waxing crescent. Our host pulled out a cooler of beer, put his best bourbon on the counter and ended up playing a song on his guitar. A song he will play again tonight in tribute to the recent member from our class to go to heaven.
We took a shit ton of pictures. We hugged each other a shit ton and we gathered as if we just saw each other earlier in the summer.
Last night I realized that I was lucky that my mom dragged me from Chicago to Indianapolis when I was a kid.
The Class of ‘84 out of Dear Old Cathedral is aging well. Everyone has gotten older, but nobody got old. We had each others back then and we have each other today.
That’s a pretty good fucking deal if you ask me.
Get out there today and be the best Chalkhead you can be.
More stories to follow on tomorrow’s Chalkboard.
