Good old days of 1991

　
A SUMMER RE-RUN


　
Back in the Old Days,,,,,of 1991. Tponetom.
[[Partially edited since I first posted it, 2 years ago.)
February, 1991.
The rejuvenating juices began to flow. Sluggish blood began to thin . The slow indeterminate, wobbly exit steps of winter began to quicken and the sleeping tiger in me began to awaken. My female mate was already a step ahead of me.
Jorgy Jorgesson [[?) used to go nuts at Christmas Time. We went nuts at Maple Syrup time.
Then a letter came, that would later, exemplify, just what a Detroit Connection could do.
Jack B. [[Gratiot and Chene), Phil P. [[Gratiot and Houston) Hughie R. [[Georgia and Burns) and myself, [[McClellan and E. Warren) were thrown together as freshmen at St. Joe’s High School in 1942. Four years of serendipitous adventures followed.
Hughie and I had been best friends since the fourth grade, until his passing eight years ago.
I did not see Jack or Phil again after graduation, for many long years.
Now we jump to 1991. The above mentioned letter came from Jack. He was our ‘alumni’ news editor. His letter advised me that there would be a 45th reunion of our class in March, 25 1991. At a glance, I knew it would be impossible for us to attend because it would take place right in the middle of the syrup season. I wrote Jack a brief note telling him I could not make it.
Then I wrote a long letter to Hughie, who had retired to Florida,. describing our life style in the U. P. Unknown to me at the time, Hughie sent that letter to Jack who lived in Plymouth, MI. Jack enjoyed the letter as well and sent it to Phil. Phil had also retired to Florida but did not like it very much and he and his wife were relocating to South Carolina.
Fast Forward to the middle of April. Spring had sprung and we were relaxing after a strenuous 6 weeks of syrup making. On the day of days, I drove the fifteen miles to Rapid River to pick up our mail. As I thumbed through it I see the return address of “Phil P. in South Carolina.� Delighted? Perplexed/ Wonderment? Oh hell, open the damn letter and find out! That moment set in motion a wonderful odyssey that we are still enjoying.
Phil explained the “Tinker, to Evers, to Chance.� syndrome of letters noting that ours was more of a quadruple play. Phil said that he and his wife were on their way to visit their son in Chicago and he wanted to know if we would welcome a visit from them in that time frame.
I raced home and told Peggy to expect company in the near future.
My Remington portable badly needed a new ribbon but I persevered. To encourage them to visit I had to make a few things perfectly clear. I wrote:
Dear Phil and C.
WE WOULD BE TOTALLY CHARMED AND DELIGHTED TO HAVE YOU VISIT US! However there are a few caveats. They are as follows:
WE ARE NOT HIPPIES!
WE ARE NOT LIVING IN A COMMUNE!
WE ARE NOT DRUGGIES!
THERE ARE NO OUTSTANDING WARRANTS FOR OUR ARREST! [[At least none
that we are aware of.)
So if you are looking for excitement, think “GREEN ACRES!�
I also reminded him that we were not too hard to find, because we had the only house on the block. Of course the ‘block’ was 22 miles long from Rapid River to Highway 13.

They arrived two weeks later and it just got better during the next 19 years.
That is Part One of my story. It continues.
Jack B. had his own “Computer Protection Systems� company, located in Plymouth, MI. Phil P. had retired from the Chrysler Corporation. Hughie R. was easily, the most successful person I have ever known. [[Another story.)
Now to Part 2.
In 1992, we made our annual Christmas Holiday trip to Houston, Texas and then to Tucson to visit our children and grandchildren. First we went to Detroit to visit both of our families. My “Best Man� Hal, and his wife lived in Plymouth and while visiting them, I made a quick visit to Jack’s office. His secretary/receptionist greeted me and I put a cautionary finger to my lips. Softly, I told her who I was and that I had not seen Jack since high school. She joined my conspiracy at once. She took me to Jack’s office and simply ushered me in. No introduction other than saying I had insisted on seeing him.
Alone with Jack, I asked him, “Are you the owner of this company?� He said, yes.
I then said, “Does that mean that you are the brains of this company?� Suspiciously, he said, yes. Then I said, “You don’t look to be smart enough to run this outfit. In fact, you look like you must have been one of those kids who went to a Christian Brothers High School.�
His half smile erupted into one of unrestrained merriment. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I said, “Fine thing, you remember our President, Phil P. but you do not remember your Vice-President [[me.) He said, “Oh my good God, Tommy!.
The next hour went by in about five minutes. One anecdote after another. Jack passed on two years ago.
We made it to Tucson and Texas and on the way back we stopped in South Caroline and stayed with Phil and C.
In 1994 we left the U.P. Pulling our trailer, we stopped in Detroit again for a week and then down to South Carolina where we stayed a month with Phil. and then we went on to Florida and stayed there for a month visiting Hughie and his wife. Sadly Hughie passed on a few years later. That leaves Phil and I and we communicate weekly via E-mail.
You can take the boy out of Detroit, but you can’t,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.you know!
If I could make a singular wish for younger people in this Forum, it would be as follows:
If you were fortunate enough, in your younger years, to have planted a seed of friendship with someone, don’t wait too long to harvest the fruition of that seed. It will bear fruit every day for the rest of your life.
What that means to an octogenarian like myself is this. I can always call or write my friends and we can compare bowel movements, incontinence, any and all kinds of symptoms, drool patterns on our breast, running noses, drippy eyes, not to mention prescriptions we take and who died lately, and how many times, after going to bed, do we get up in the middle of the night to whyzzzzzz.
Silly? Ridiculous? Irrelevant? Outrageous? Senile? All of the above, but when the moisture begins to cloud our hour glass, our values begin to pan for the real gold, meaning, SIMPLY, Mate, Family and Friends. All the rest is just so much sand.
END OF POST.
Note: My opinions apply only to myself and Peggy. I do not, in any way, shape, or form make suggestions or advice to anyone else.

Now, let’s go back to the ‘bellwether� thing. The question being, “What or who is leading you into retirement, whether it is one year or twenty or more years away?
My unsolicited opinion is simply to enlist and invest in as many friends as you can find. For instance,,,,, like on this web site. I am sure that I have garnered a few, myself. That last line is the PUNCH LINE.

Those were the good old days, all right, Hmm, 1991... another state downturn, I was bumped from my job, ended up at a completely unfamiliar place and a brand new job with responsibility for all three shifts that I had to learn from scratch with no one there to teach me the nuts and bolts. Thank the Creator for the good friends who helped me through it. We all had a very good time, as I was able to come up with some fun things to interest everyone in the project. I think it's time for me to call up a few of those people and see what they are up to these days.

tpone-

I don't comment on your stories, but I read - and re-read - every one. Oh, I still take my hands off the steering wheel every time I cross Lafayette.

gnome,
One memory. remembered, is worth a thousand words. Lafayette still makes ME smile.