"It" REALLY Hit Home This Past Weekend....

Clyde Clifford said at the end of each "Beaker Street" program, "Tell the folks you love that you love them, because you might not have that opportunity tomorrow."  That really hit home with me when I attended my 35th class reunion this past weekend (August 18, 2012).  The first thing I saw at the sign-up table was those who weren't with us any more....

After high school, many of us were swallowed up by work, college, family, what-have-you.  I was one of those, working full-time and in college full-time as well...and then I graduated, I was so buried in life, I had little or no time for friends, just work aquaintances, for these thirty-five years.  This weekend reminded me of some of the greatest, most fun times of my life.  Changed?  Yes, we have.  But the memories and the personal reunions were sweet.

Hours later, I visited the table one more time before we left; I knew about a couple of folks and got reasons for the others' deaths- some tragic, some accidental, all seemingly unnecessary in their young lives.  I knew many of these schoolmates from elementary school and, buried as I was in my own little world, I missed their lives.  Clyde's words came back to me over and over this weekend.  As I write this I am sorrowed that I didn't keep in touch with my own closest friends.  Our class wasn't just a class- it was a family.  As enamored as I am with the deejays I grew up listening to on KAAY, I am ashamed that I didn't pay attention to this family of friends.

So, with that, do as Clyde says...be sure to tell those friends you do love them, that they mean something to you...before it's too late....

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)