I have to write now so i can lay my head on the pillow tonight without all these thoughts going round and round in my head. i barely remember driving home cuz i was flooded with memories and emotions like a rollercoaster in outer space.
o.k. o.k. i admit it. so i cried like a little bitch on the way home. but it wasn't about what one might think, especially after having to part ways once again was sad enough. i was poised to stand up and speak after the dinner but when audrey spoke and I started thinking about barry and joan, i knew i wouldn't make it through without breaking down. but this morning i managed a brief chat with audrey and that chat is what came back to me on the way home.
I had an epiphany that barry and joan meant so much more to me that hadn't come clear until now. unlike my father and mother, i knew, and could feel that barry & joan really cared about me even under their overwhelming circumstances. i looked up to barry like a father and respected him for his sincerity & straight talk. I know they both cared about everyone at school and were truly warm-hearted people.
i realized then that i really miss them and i can now see how much they were missed at our reunion. If not for them, I would not have met all of you. Which brings me to all of you. at the campsite i stood back for a moment and looked at all of you as a group and your families and thought you are such a great bunch of people, how lucky i was to have been part of the family!
what i was going to say at the dinner is that after 35 years of meeting new people and making new friends along the way, i have yet to make the kind of friendships that were as real, as intense, and as fun as with all of you. when i say i hope to see you all again soon, i really mean it. please don't make me wait another 35 years. love rj
What he said!
ReplyDelete-Trina