By Bill D. Ward
Today’s Wisdom: The message may not move me, Or mean a great deal to me, But hey! it feels so groovy to say...“I Dig Rock & Roll Music” Peter, Paul & Mary
I had a strange experience awhile back. I finally hit the age where it was recommended by my doc to see a cardiologist. One generally doesn’t ignore instructions like that so off I went on the appointed day. The clinic was large and there were plenty of people in the waiting room. While my wife and I sat there awaiting our turn, the staff came in every few minutes and called a new name.
After hearing several names called, my wife and I both caught on at about the same time. I told her it feels like they are calling my high school class. There were two Mikes, a Paul, a Dennis, a Ruth, Larry, a Bill (me) and a few more we can’t recall anymore, because no one over 70 can ever remember a name.
I long ago realized that each generation has a common cluster of names, and my high school class was probably the perfect example. We actually had seven Mikes in my 1968 class of 85 kids. Not one Justin, Derek, Jordan, Noah, Lucas or Levi.
Needless to say, I felt right at home in that waiting room. These were my people. None of us knew each other, but just hearing the names gave me a sense that we all had a common bond -- high school in the 1960s. We all shared rock n’ roll, Vietnam, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King, and an eighth-grade English teacher with higher expectations of us than any of us were really interest in exhibiting.
I’m sure if someone had brought coffee, we all could have had a wonderful afternoon together. There had to be some great stories in that waiting room.
But we didn’t talk. Instead, we sat there patiently, each waiting for the next encounter with reality that we all had traveled there to endure. I hope they all got great news, but I doubt that to be the case.
One of the things I have learned is that bad news becomes more common as we age. Maybe we should all be connecting with our own Mikes, Pauls and Larrys to see how they are doing. I’m just sayin’.
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