In two weeks, a not so young cowboy will be driving to Kansas to attend the graduation of Holly. She will soon be a proud Jayhawk alumni seeking to make her mark in the business world. While in Kansas City, Sally and I will visit old homes on Canterbury St. and 73rd. Terrace. We’ll stroll through The Country Club Plaza and take the scenic tour of the amazing estates near Kansas City Country Club. There will be a BBQ at Tom Finholm’s house and maybe a round of golf with former Mesa State teammate Mike ‘Spider’ Hayes. It will not be a conversation topic but we all realize that more than two thirds of our lives have come and gone. Long past are the baseball days with Tom and the basketball road trips with Mike to Arizona, Utah, and Idaho. Having known Tom since the second grade and Mike since 1968, we’ll surely laugh at so many pranks played during the glory years. We won’t talk about siblings or parents who are no longer with us. For a brief few hours, we will revel in the fun we had at Sister Rose Agnes’ expense and recall the buzzer beater that Mike launched from twenty-five feet in the winter of 1970. Surely, there are reminders that the three of us have aged….the grey hair, the slowness of feet, and the lines around the eyes. The funny thing is that for a few hours, we’ll once more feel twenty-two instead of three times that age. When we shake hands and say goodbye, no mention will be made that we’re in the last third….or fourth….of our lives. How did the time fly by so quickly? We’ll say a prayer of thanks that the memories we made together are still alive and well. When Spider steps up and slams a drive 260 yards down the center of No.1, we’ll give him the normal ribbing about performing enhancing drugs. Who knows how much time we have on this earth? Grateful are we for each day…and every opportunity to make new memories while we’re here.
What You’re Saying