The Year Drags Itself Over the Line

 So here we are on the cusp of a new year, a better year. But we can’t say good bye to the year without saying good goodbye to another classmate. I admit that I’ve put this off by a few months. Bob Wanek let me know that we lost Bob Greenblatt. Greenie always crushed on Pat Snyder having dated her in school. He also shared the home town of East Haven CT with Karen Carpenter and me. I lived in East Haven in a shared beach house during my last year at Yale. I talked for quite a while with Bob a couple of years ago and he commented that I was one of only a few who called him Greenie. I couldn’t remember how that came to pass. 

I put off publishing Bob’s passing because I was in a funk at the time. I needed some good news; I still do.The kind of good news that maybe only a new year can bring and as I wish myself a happy new year, so too do I wish you all one also. Happy New Year my good people. 

A Decision Made

 

Although there are certainly other things that get posted on our class Facebook page beyond the final rest of our classmates, it is increasingly becoming the most frequently changing part of the page as it was when my website authoring software was functional. So for the time being, I am going to use this blog to highlight the final passage of our classmates. 

The blog posts will then be linked to the class Facebook page or can be followed independent of Facebook for those not favorably disposed to that social media platform but who might still want to connect to our class. I am more than happy not to have anything to report but invite any and all to contribute to our class directory knowledge base. 

This web-based platform is also much more portable than the heavy duty laptop I used for the website so I can travel lighter when Linda and I continue our travels out and about. As it is, our trips sans RV have the Sienna looking like the lead wagon of the Gypsy caravan. “Less is more” becomes more and more a distant memory armed with bedding and mobility devices and medications and therapeutics. But ya gotta keep movin’ or consider the alternative!

Facebook Memorials

 On our just completed jaunt to North Carolina's Outerbanks (OBX to the trendy) I found myself sitting on the Eastern bank of the bayside (on Dock street of all places) to watch one of the spectacular sunsets.

It brought to mind Dale Weber's frequent posts of Carolina sunsets on the shore of his lake so even though he's been gone a couple of years, I felt compelled to post on his Facebook page to share my sunset photo because I knew he would have liked it. And that made me think about the frequent practice of families to maintain a loved one's FB page even though they are gone as evidence of their loved one' life. 

Many of our deceased classmates still have active FB pages and many of us automatically wish them a Happy Birthday out of reflex or common practice or courtesy when Facebook reminds us that their birthday is here. I'm guilty too only to discover or remember rather sheepishly that they are gone and have been for quite a while. I've since decided that rather than be embarrassed, I will now post on the pages of classmates long gone as though they were still here since to me anyway, as long as I remember them, they aren't really gone. So Happy Birthday Martha Hunt Utter. Here's to fond memories we shared at the 45th Reunion and on Facebook. We remember and will continue to do so every year as long as your Facebook page continues to exist and beyond.

Dale Weber, my Smart Ass Friend

 I just found out, quite by accident, that my friend, Dale Weber passed away in his sleep in September of 2020, just a few weeks before I lost my Dad. I'm almost just as glad that I didn't find out about his passing until the enormity of my father's loss had dulled somewhat. I was surfing Facebook, which I only occasionally frequent and noticed a post from his son, mentioning his father followed by RIP. I knew then that I had missed something and googled Dale's name in North Carolina where he had retired and sure enough, his obit popped right up. Once I get the website going again, I'll post his obit on the memorial page.

The one thing I can tell you is that Dale was always the consummate smart ass; and he was witty and funny. He always had a wise crack that was subvoiced just loud enough to be overheard. He infuriated gym teachers, substitute teachers, and many other voices of authority that frequented the high school. He popped many a self righteous bubble. And later in life, he took the most beautiful sunset pictures from his backyard in Seven Lakes NC. We conversed briefly on Facebook after he would post these spectacular panoramic views and we'd joke with each other like we did in school.

What I learned from this is that you have to reach out to high school friends acquaintances and buddies, because when you wonder what ever happened to so and so, as often as not at our age, you find out that they are no longer available to reach out to. The same can be said about the lunch Linda and I had with Carol Vanderway in Nashville. We had a grand time. Given the time we could have annoyed the wait staff at McCormick's Irish Pub even more but we had to go to a Grand Ole Opry performance. During that visit, we talked about, among other things, the people we met in high school that we didn't engage with fully, just passing in halls with a Hi howyadoin. I know that when I was searching you all out, I had many conversations that made me think that this person could have been a lifelong friend if I had taken the time. And sure enough, as often as not, I discovered that it was too late to develop such a friendship and so with great regret, I bid Dale a fond farewell. 

So the next time you wonder about someone, look 'em up and get reacquainted. It's never too late until it is.