August 15, 2008 Classmates, That sounds out of place… So, Friends. It has been one week since we all joined together to be reunited. For some of us the first time in 20 years. I have received so many phone calls and emails from you that I felt compelled to say thank you once more. You see, when I started this journey in February, my main concern was that everyone walked away with a smile on their face and an empty spot in their heart for friends that would be missed. My heart is filled to over flowing from the response you all have given to me. Many of you have become more than just classmates to me. I wish there were enough time in this world to spend with each one of you and to know your families. That is just not the way life is. In the next several weeks, Life will creep back in and we will journey on with our lives and some will lose touch. I pray that you make every effort to keep alive the feeling you had when you left Finz Saturday night or the minute you spotted someone you had not seen in years, the way I felt when I greeted Stacy Hargrove, John Coppe, Larry Stor… My list includes all of you, not one is left out. If you are having a bad day I hope you will go to the website and look at the images of our time together. I hope that seeing the smiles on the faces of those we held dear for four years will lighten your load and put a smile on your face. Hug your children if you find you are missing an old friend whom you may not be able to reach. I have hugged my son Noah often over the last week as I have thought of you. He would ask me…. “Daddy why are you sad?” and I would say to him. “ I miss my friends.” I am often taken back to what Morgan Freeman said in the Shawshank Redemption, these two paragraphs from that movie sum up how I feel about the ending of the reunion and the knowledge that one day soon I will see you all again. Carry these words with you and replace Andy’s name with the name of the one you are missing…. We are separated only by time and distance, we are all joined together by a Bulldog. One that will live forever in all of us. “Those of us who knew him best talk about him often. I swear, the stuff he pulled. It always makes us laugh. Sometimes it makes me sad, though, Andy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are just too bright... and when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice... but still, the place you live is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend. I find I am so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain... I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.” Big Jim |
