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I was visited this afternoon by two bright spirits from Houston. Joe graduated from Mt. Carmel High School in 1980, which was my third year there teaching English and Religion. His friend Scott didn't go to MCHS, but I remember meeting him a few times before (all those years ago). These guys were kids when I saw them last, and today they show up on my doorstep still young but certainly adults. These two decades have been kind to them both. Joe's beard is the first goatee that's ever looked like it belonged right where it was. He's got the same great smile and laugh. You know something is right with people from the past when you connect immediately, as if you'd been hanging out just yesterday. That's how it was. The talk was all about now, very little nostalgia. (I'm tempted to say that my memory isn't what it used to be, but I think that Memory needs an occasion. As we talked today and certain names got mentioned, I had no trouble flipping to the right page of my internal yearbook.) The ease with which we picked up the conversation helped me to remember that this seems a trait of Houston people. I felt accepted and appreciated there. Lots of schools talk about having a family atmosphere, but it seems that Mt. Carmel really had it; it was small enough and had a core of people committed to helping it become more than just a school. In order to hang with Joe and Scott I had to skip a faculty Mass and dinner this evening. Part of me is sorry for that because I know I've got a lot of new people to meet...,and I am anxious to begin meeting them. But I'm also not too sad to have missed it, because I am an introverted guy for whom large social gatherings are akin to meeting Dracula. That is, they drain me. Tomorrow the whole faculty meets.
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Frank Lloyd Wright |