In May of this year, the Jamestown area experienced very high winds resulting in a number of trees damaged and many hanging limbs were left.
One of those trees was in front of a house next door to my home. When members of the City Parks' Department came to get rid of the hanging limb and trip other branches, I got to see much of my life in the employees who did their jobs. I knew some of the workers personally, so I went out to say hello and saw a large part of my life in that brief reunion with those men doing their job.
One of the more senior members of the crew was a classmate of mine since our days together at St. James School all the way through grade twelve at Jamestown High School. He was one of my best friends at St. James, and just seeing him, brought back some fond memories of days gone by.
As I looked up in the "cherry picker" and saw the young man trimming branches, I noticed it was a young man who played baseball for me at Jamestown High School. This young man was a member of the team that played in the 1990 State Final Four tournament, and that brought back memories of all the fun times I have had coaching baseball and football, as well as officiating baseball throughout the years of my life.
I then looked over at the young workers picking up branches and putting them in the truck and saw a young man who was a former student of mine and that allowed me to look back and think about my career as an educator, and remember so many great times, great activities, and great kids with whom I had the honor of knowing and working for so many years.
It was amazing how a few hanging branches allowed me to be reunited with people and memories of my past. And then I thought about how many people I have been fortunate enough to meet, get to know, and share friendships with throughout my life and the domino effect began to happen in my mind.
With each person I thought about, good thoughts and memories followed, causing me to realize that I've been so lucky to have had the opportunities to do what I have been able to do in my past, and to have even more opportunities to be able to do the things I am doing in my life now. And then it struck me, that the two are connected. It's the people in our lives who help create the "down the road" fond memories of our lives.
As I write this, I recall my St. James days with pretty much the same kids in the same class for up to 10 years from kindergarten to ninth grade. I think of them even more since St. James, this past weekend, held a reunion as part of their hundredth anniversary of the church parish. I think of kids I hung around with in high school, at Silver Fence, at Uncle Bob's, in the pines, at Hall's Pond, the Senior Lounge and in our classes, too.
I think of those I've met in college, in the schools where I've taught and on teams that I have coached, in my umpires' association, in my church family, my volunteer groups, people I've met as part of my children's activities, and the hundreds of friends who have accepted me as their friend on Facebook. And add to all of these, my family members who are my closest friends, who have let me think back to great days past. Wow, what a life I've been so fortunate to have lived!
Often times we are told that we are judged by the company we keep. Sometimes that is justified, often times it is unfair. I look back at my life, and it's been a great life because of the people I've been fortunate to meet. It's a cliche but, if friends were money, I'd be the richest man in the world.
I would hope that all of us could say the same thing about our lives. It's not about the jobs we have, or the homes we live in, or the cars we drive, or the money we make, it's about the people we've touched and those who have touched us.
Are all of you as rich as I am?