College Days

Last week I went back to college. In 1986 I graduated from Gannon University in Erie, PA. and as luck might have it, I had to return to Zurn Hall because one of my construction clients was doing some work in the building.

It's strange how much your mind kicks back to you. I had not entered the building in 22 years, but the sights, and the sounds were so familiar that I was almost 21 again. I thought of visitng the auditorium with a friend of mine who needed me to write a paper for her about "The Gods Must Be Crazy." It was a goofy movie with pre-historic men in it who find a coke bottle. I remember laughing hard, and drawing the ire of my friend. Of course, I was drunk at the time and she was seriously doubting my ability to help her write the paper. She bitched and moaned about how irresponsible I was - and in the end, I finished the paper, she typed it and got an A.

I thought of jumping parking meters in front of Zurn Hall - yeah, we used to leap high over the meters and there was too much of a risk in missing, so we always made it - I can't imagine jumping a parking meter at my present playing weight.

I recalled that we stuffed a little guy named Phil into a trash can in front of the post office. Phil-Harmonic as we called him - reported us and we were reprimanded.

I passed my dorm and remembered the first day of college and how much I missed my home and most of all my parents, brothers and sisters.

I scurried past the girls dorm and thought of the nights my friends and I would stand outside and just wait for the class of freshman girls so we could scout the talent. We were like that old Dana Carvey SNL skit - they walked right on by like we weren't even there.

I considered that my boys were mere years away from some of these adventures. As I strolled through Gannon's campus, I imagined that they followed me to good old Erie, and secretly I wished them the lifetime of cherished memories I made there.

As I left the building and headed toward my car, it occurred to me that while I was at Gannon I had so many dreams about how wonderful my life would turn out to be.

Somehow dreams don't happen quickly. It took 22 years for me to realize that most of what I had wanted to happen, happened for me - three healthy, great kids, a wife who is an excellnt companion, a house, a job, a couple of vehicles, a tv in every room, more food than I need on a daily basis, a bar with actual booze that doesn't have to be drunk before bed every night, two great dogs, eight published books, a hundred great friends, and a sharp ambition to succeed.

Perhaps I did learn something besides how to do beer bongs and jump parking meters.

Comments

Your writing is so "on." It's a breath of fresh air - you are so talented. And you're my brother. Excellent, huh? Seriously, every post you've done for the past couple weeks has been great.
Cliff Fazzolari said…
Geez, thanks - you're better than me!

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