| Richland High School Class of '87, page 2 |
"History is a series of timeless moments"
--T.S. Eliot
--T.S. Eliot
Somehow I don't think that Michael Parkey giving a weathercast at 5:30 am from a 9th floor
balcony is exactly what Mr. Eliot had in mind, but in a way it is exactly what he is talking
about. When I think about it, this reunion weekend seems to be light years removed from
Labor Day weekend 1985, the day before we first started high school, and the Night
Ranger concert at Six Flags Over Texas I went to with Dennis Vogt and Tony Shipka and
met Lisa Roberts and held hands with Jennifer Owens. It seems so far away from Kip's Big
Boy in the atrium and Doug Schley crashing through the Haltom banner ahead of their
football team. The Hill, the Whataburger parking lot, Michael Freeman's graduation party.
And so many others, some indivdual happenings others collective shared by some, but what
all these things have in common is that when we were in each other's presence, each other's
Space, we all, for the most part, got along considerably well with one another. Teenage
hormones and human nature are always going to cause some unfortunate hiccups, but, for
me, whenever I have been around people from Richland High School, that is all they have
ever seemed to be.
According to quantum physics Time and Space are really two different aspects of the same
thing. Now, if that is true, then the events of 20 years ago really aren't all that far away
whenever we are together. So it should come as no surprise that everyone I talked to had a
good time and that the reunion far exceeded all of our expectations. Am I saying that if we
were around each other all the time that we would live forever? Of course not. Neither am
I saying that we should dwell on the "good ol days" for there has never been such a thing.
For Time really does move on (as shown to me by the fact that my Mother recognized
nobody in the 20 year W.A. Porter photo but recognized and named most people in the
actual 4th grade one). I am saying that one should embrace one's history, one's past, in
order to be free from it and concentrate on the task at hand, whatever that might be. Or in
the full quote from Mr. Eliot, "A people without a history is not redeemed from Time, for
history is a series of timeless moments;" that this intersection of Timelessness with Time,
which is what this reunion was, is good for one's soul, one's health. In other words we
should do this again, and more often. Stan Gertz sent me an e-mail asking if I would be
interested in doing it every five years, to which I say a resounding, "Yes!" I will leave to
others more skilled at coordinating things like that, but count me in.
Love,
JW
balcony is exactly what Mr. Eliot had in mind, but in a way it is exactly what he is talking
about. When I think about it, this reunion weekend seems to be light years removed from
Labor Day weekend 1985, the day before we first started high school, and the Night
Ranger concert at Six Flags Over Texas I went to with Dennis Vogt and Tony Shipka and
met Lisa Roberts and held hands with Jennifer Owens. It seems so far away from Kip's Big
Boy in the atrium and Doug Schley crashing through the Haltom banner ahead of their
football team. The Hill, the Whataburger parking lot, Michael Freeman's graduation party.
And so many others, some indivdual happenings others collective shared by some, but what
all these things have in common is that when we were in each other's presence, each other's
Space, we all, for the most part, got along considerably well with one another. Teenage
hormones and human nature are always going to cause some unfortunate hiccups, but, for
me, whenever I have been around people from Richland High School, that is all they have
ever seemed to be.
According to quantum physics Time and Space are really two different aspects of the same
thing. Now, if that is true, then the events of 20 years ago really aren't all that far away
whenever we are together. So it should come as no surprise that everyone I talked to had a
good time and that the reunion far exceeded all of our expectations. Am I saying that if we
were around each other all the time that we would live forever? Of course not. Neither am
I saying that we should dwell on the "good ol days" for there has never been such a thing.
For Time really does move on (as shown to me by the fact that my Mother recognized
nobody in the 20 year W.A. Porter photo but recognized and named most people in the
actual 4th grade one). I am saying that one should embrace one's history, one's past, in
order to be free from it and concentrate on the task at hand, whatever that might be. Or in
the full quote from Mr. Eliot, "A people without a history is not redeemed from Time, for
history is a series of timeless moments;" that this intersection of Timelessness with Time,
which is what this reunion was, is good for one's soul, one's health. In other words we
should do this again, and more often. Stan Gertz sent me an e-mail asking if I would be
interested in doing it every five years, to which I say a resounding, "Yes!" I will leave to
others more skilled at coordinating things like that, but count me in.
Love,
JW
