Seasons Change

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We made the leap by setting a tee time for 9:42 on Saturday morning.

Yet, as I drove to the golf course where I learned how to play back about 40 years ago, I was feeling a little nostalgic.

Maybe having The Rolling Stones record, ‘Emotional Rescue’ on had something to do with it.

That record came out 40 years ago. (It’s still really great).

I passed a spot on 75 where I thought about an old friend who lost her battle with cancer this week. Janine and I dated for awhile back about 30 years ago, and we had fun going to hockey games and drinking margaritas. We were part of a large group of friends.

I thought of her because her tragic death has been on my mind all week (she was a great person and a very skilled nurse) but I also thought of her because we were driving on 75 in a snow and ice storm and I hit black ice...

...on a hill and a narrow stretch of road. I was going 50 mph at the time and black ice is a hopeless situation.

It was all I could do to keep the car on the road...but as quickly as we went into the spin...we came out of it. When the car was under control, I pulled to the side of the road, and took a deep breath.

The last time I chatted with Janine, she mentioned it.

“We could have died!” She wrote. “I don’t have any idea how we didn’t crash.”

That night and the conversation hit me hard as I drove to the course. She lost her life and her time was way too damn short.

A blink of an eye from the day I opened the new Stones record back in 1979 to 2020 and a trip down memory lane.

Lately I’ve been talking to some old friends that I haven’t seen in a long, long time. We do the ‘Glory Days’ dance but we also do a little talking about how things have played out.

Seasons change.

The seasons of our lives whiz on by.

I’m sorry that I can’t say goodbye to a long time friend because there is no wake. This pandemic makes life seem impossible at times.

But I placed my ball on the tee at the first hole. There’s a pond that must be cleared to get to the fairway. When I was a kid, I put a lot of balls in that drink.

I got better.

I didn’t even consider that I might hit the ball in the water. I didn’t either. A solid ball, down the middle.

I was playing with a couple of longtime buddies too so I spent my time going around that course thinking of days gone by.

They’re the same friends that they were back then. Good, solid guys. A little grey, a little bigger.

All happy to still be here.

I put Mick & Keith on again as I pulled away.

I played good enough. Stayed 6-feet clear of everyone.

Just thankful.

Still here.

Sad for those we lost along the way.

May Janine Rest In Peace.

She’ll be missed.

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