Yes, I'm still alive, almost.
What a week I had in Philadelphia and my 60th high school class reunion in Downingtown, PA.
Now to answer the obvious question why has it taken me so long to post, I've just recovered.
Folks, I don't have the energy I used to have. For most of my life, I've had an almost inexhaustible supply of energy. After last week, even though I had a fabulous time, I think I reached the bottom of my formerly inexhaustible supply.
I'll post more about my stay in Philadelphia in future posts but in this post I'll tell about my exhaustion. That exhaustion was exacerbated by me spraining my back when I was loading my suitcase in the trunk of the car of my ride. I pinched a nerve near my left shoulder blade that caused me a great deal of pain. That pain is just alleviating now, thank goodness.
Our week in Philadelphia and my class reunion last Saturday was blessed with perfect weather; sunny, breezy and mild. Couldn't have been better. The past few years our (me and Pat) visits to Philadelphia were either rainy or hot and humid. We were indeed very fortunate with the wonderful weather this time.
Pat and I took the Airport shuttle train out to meet my former classmate and friend Stuart at the Philadelphia International airport Saturday morning. Unfortunately our friend Lar decided not to come out to the airport, he wanted picked up but Stuart didn't have time to pick him up at his home. We gave him other options (family drive him to the airport, Uber, Lyft) but he didn't even bother to respond to our suggestions other than to say he still expected to be picked up. Stuart flew in Friday night and was flying back to his home Sunday morning and didn't want to spend most of his time driving. He was driving us to Downingtown for the reunion and after the reunion to his family cemetery in Upper Darby. Thus a missed opportunity at that reunion which will probably never again be replicated in our lifetime. Choices made.
Arriving in Downingtown early Saturday morning, we stopped at the famous Downingtown Diner of the "Blob" movie fame.
Fond memories of that time over sixty years ago for Downingtown's fifteen-seconds of fame.
 |
| Stuart and me at the Downingtown Diner |
Then we were on to St. Anthony's Lodge for our class reunion. First thing I thought was "Where did all these old people come from?" then I realized I was ONE OF THOSE OLD PEOPLE. Friends, this is probably the last class reunion I'll ever attend. Not only because so many of us are dying off but because it's just not the same without the massive gathering of former friends and classmates. Perhaps we'll have small intimate get togethers in the future but those massive class reunions? They're history. Still we had a wonderful time and I did take a lot of pictures and Pat took many videos. Only thing about the videos is goofy me going around visiting my classmates. It's weird looking at myself when in my mind I have a different picture of myself. By the way, how do you like that wonderful Spo shirt I'm wearing? I wore that in Philadelphia too and got a lot of positive comments and looks. When Pat and I were at the Apple store in Philadelphia, a tall, handsome black man said to me about my shirt "If I had a shirt like that I would wear it every day." I offered to give it to him but he said he had to turn me down because as an Apple employee he couldn't accept gifts from customers. That was a shame because that Spo shirt would look so good on him and get a lot of exposure, more exposure than I give it. But I'm glad I was able to keep it and I did feel a little guilty giving away a Spo shirt that Dr. Spo worked so hard and lovingly to give to me.
Time to go to work today. I will resume my blog posting on a regular basis now, rest assured. I'm still here.
 |
| Stuart and Pat at the airport train station |
