May 17th, Ano Dos
My fellow Classmates and Sojourners,
I finally found some time to double check my photos and I had forgotten earlier on Saturday I had taken this picture. I think it is only fitting to include it. I remember as I walked around it, looking for some good view to jump out at me, I seemed to hear the sounds of kids at recess in the my head. I thought of the dreams the students there had dreamed. I wondered if their dreams were much different than ours.
Life expectancy was much shorter than now. More parents buried more of their children than we have. There was no Fox News, or CNN or for that matter a TV to watch it on. Some things never change for those who go to rural schools, you know how many days since the last rain, and how many days 'til the next rain is forecast. You can lay in bed under a pile of quilts and by the sound the snow plow blade makes as it goes past your lane you can accurately estimate the snow depth waiting for you to do morning chores. You know what the elevator is paying for January delivery and what Donnelly's is paying for 2nd shift. You knew your competitor for rental ground and for the hand of MaryAnne.
No, I don't think things have changed much at all. They dreamed their dreams, we dreamed ours. and our children dreamed theirs and our grandchildren are dreaming as I type. I think things went pretty well for us all things considered. I certainly heard a preponderance of laugher, and that's always a good thing.
I wish you all well. I hope you can let go of what needs letting go, and hold fast to the good stuff. I hope you leave more than just money to those you will leave behind. I hope you know the words that still need sayin' and the words you still need to be hearin'. May God give you the wisdom for both and words to express them.
So fellow classmates, and partners in crime and misdemeanors, order a pork-burger for the hell of it, build a really, really big bonfire some frosty evening, and just laugh when your outhouse shows up missing.
bobb,
A card carrying member of The Class of 1971


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