January Janie
Well, my affection for
Janie continues to grow. We went to our senior prom almost almost half a
century ago. Through an incredible series of circumstances we have re-connected.
I think it was our 45th high school reunion when she told me that
she was divorced from her husband, the doctor. (They had four children, three
boys and a girl, and now have five granddaughters). I was married too, until my
wife died peacefully in her sleep last year. (Lynn and I had a girl and a boy,
both married with boys of their own born in 2016).
So the senior prom
pair, lived lives taking us down separate paths. We agree that neither of us
have regrets. (Aside from the obvious sadness and the inexplicable turns our individual
lives have taken. We concur that life has been more good than sad, we have had more joy than bad, and we count ourselves among the blessed overall.)
Janie stayed close to
home and thrived as a nurse for more than forty years. I chased career avenues
in advertising, marketing and more recently teaching/education in NY, LA, North
Carolina, Miami and Saint Louis. Now we find ourselves curiously and cautiously
available to each other once again, albeit in Cleveland and Saint Louis, our
respective midwestern home cities. If you are keeping score at home: 5/20 =
106, 8/20 = 198, 10/28 = 267 and 1/19/2023 = 351. (The dates and number of days since Lynn’s untimely passing on February 3, 2022). It's a
long distance relationship that relies on texting, snail mail and periodic live
togetherness. (5/20 My birthday in Cleveland, 8/20 Cleveland again for Rock and
Roll and Art, 10/28 for Art and Sketch Comedy in Columbus, Ohio and 1/19 for a
weekend that starts at Caffeine and Angelo’s in Lakewood and includes The
Cleveland Cavaliers).
My life has always been
kind of episodic and this chapter is no exception. As I pack my bag for three
nights at the Winton Place (arranged for by my brother Dan) and confirm my
Southwest Airlines Reservation I am pondering an offer to be a Middle School
Art Teacher.
Ironically, each
encounter with Janie is remarkable, comfortable and completely “in the moment”.
We’ve enjoyed each other’s company and as text messages and snail mails unfold
we get reacquainted as we each recall what it is that brought us together
in the first place. It’s a beautiful thing, really.
New Year’s
Eve Reflection 12/31/2022 (stream of consciousness texts sent
on Saturday – the last day of the year).
I love rainy day Janie as much as the one that smiles at the sunshine and the one who says "damn it" when she feels less than100% as well as the one who’s gotta workout when the world isn’t right or just…or the one who continues to protest the omniscient Amazon in spite of relying on the billionaire’s business model being unavoidable this time of year…And the one who wishes she was a cat because then she would be warmer when the power has been out most of the day…Or the one that only admits to a tear in her eye after the fact a month or more later.
Or the one who insists
Steve Martin is not funny in the 1979 movie The Jerk only to laugh when
challenged to describe an example of a “not funny” part of the film. (She doesn't recall this ever happening but suggests it could be "selective memory".)
Or the one who agrees
to drive to Columbus Museum of Art and spend the day (and night) with me.
Or the one who says things
like “divine intervention…sometimes that
works”
Or the one who agreed
to go on a movie date to see “Deep Throat” when she and her date (me) were just in high
school…
Or the Janie to whom, at one of
our reunions, I said “You still make me weak in the knees”
Or the Janie who almost
like magic pulls out a gift certificate to the very restaurant, Pier W, where we met 48 years after our Senior Prom in 1974 (on
my birthday no less…).
Or the Janie who told
me about a tattoo and teases me with “a woman doesn’t tell where…you’ll have to
find out for yourself”…
Or the Janie who will
not be convinced of the value in abstract expressionist Mark Rothko color field
painting.
Or the Janie who (after
my brother Dan checked on her at the candy store) said: I love the Morgans,
especially wam.
Or the Janie who
responded to text in May when I said something like: “I am so looking forward
to seeing you” with “ditto”
Or the Janie who
described me as… not all men are rascals…some are cool and lovable…
I really hope we can
stay connected in 2023…whatever that
might mean…que the soundtrack “wise men say only fools rush in”
JANIE: Wow overwhelmed
with all the texts. So sweet though. Happy New Year and hopefully 2023 will
bring memories and adventures. I can’t take all the praises you give. I don’t
know what to say but thank you. Again you make me smile and bluish.
WAM: You can blush…just
don’t turn bluish…ha.
Cindy Verdea Hyland texted me as I was headed to the airport calling my attention to an article in the Lakewood Observer (page 10 article by Tim Rowell). The last paragraph kinda captures that feeling I get back in my boyhood hometown.
"As I pass our old neighborhood again today, I noticed things do change. Most things are the same....Lakewood Park's more diverse group of daily visitors no longer find a skating rink at the Oldest Stone House Field in winter, but do find the park's new Solstice Steps to applaud a spectacular Lake Erie Sunset. The old gives way to the new. The good remains and some of the good gets better. And that's reassuring."
