Boomer Sentimentality and Nostalgia

Why is it that us Boomers (ages 43-61) are so darn nostalgic? The last 6 years or so I find myself trying to find old friends from High School that I had lost track of...completely my fault. I think as I was trying to grow up, I cast off my childhood chums for new friends. Now that I am starting to replay my life, I remember the early years as some of my fondest memories. I have been extremely lucky (thank you internet!) in finding some of my best friends...Robert Myers from Torrejon in Spain, Jack Avent from Riyadh, and now Mark O'Dell from Vienna, VA!

Honestly a day didn't go by that I didn't think of these friends. Mark and I lost touch when my family moved from the suburbs of Washington, DC to the wilds of the Middle East in the 70's (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran, etc.). Mark might not remember it, but he taught my brother and me how to ride a bike. We basically grew up together...neighborhood football, basketball and baseball games, fishing, hiking, camping and Boy Scouts, hanging out, getting into trouble with the Fiedlers...just living the suburban life. We wrote a little after I moved, but he went to college, I had a new life, and we lost touch.

Jack was my first friend I made in boarding school Junior year of HS. Which was my first experience living away from my parents. Some called us the Odd Couple...Jack: 6'4" African American, me: 5'9" chubby Asian, but somehow we connected. I think he felt sorry for me, or he needed me to help him with his homework. Whatever the reason we became best friends. Like all friendships made by Army Brats, ours only lasted about a year. After our first year in the dorms in Bahrain we got split up for senior year. He went to Franfurt, Germany with his younger sister, and I got shipped to Torrejon, Spain with my younger brother. Jack taught me how to really enjoy Funk music...old Isley Brothers, early Earth, Wind, and Fire, The Brothers Johnson. His Mom, Pea, taught me how to love southern cuisine...chicken wings are still my favorite snack because of Mrs. Avent's influence. Ask my sister how I eat them!

The best thing that happened with me being sent to Spain was meeting my 3rd best friend (what a lucky guy I am!) Robert. He is like a brother to me. Let me correct that...he is a brother to me. We had fun. I won't give too many details or my teenage children will know that I understand what it is like to be tempted! Ha! We would go on adventures in the Madrileno neighborhoods, meet with Gypsies at the giant weekend flea markets, flirt with Senoritas at the Plaza Mayor, and discovered delicious tapas to soak up the excess alcohol. We too lost touch soon after returning to the states for college.

Well lucky me, I have reconnected with all 3 of these gentlemen, and they are successful men that I am proud to know. Mark is the most recent connection for me...just last week! He had just signed up on Classmates and I took a chance and e-mailed him. He is a way successful real estate developer in beautiful Telluride. Still married to his first wife, two lovely boys, loving life. Jack also was a recent reconnection...just about 6 months ago. He had registered on the Bahrain School website for alumni. I e-mailed him over a year ago, and kept getting an "undeliverable" error message. Hopes dashed. Then out of the blue he replied to my e-mail. I guess Yahoo kept trying to deliver it. Turns out he is a career Navy man (funny he could never swim, sank like a stone!) and his e-mail box got jammed when he was out to sea on deployment for the Iraqi War. He is also still married to his first wife, has two successful daughters in college, and he still looks like he can dunk a basketball. He plays more golf than bball though. My buddy Robert and I reconnected almost 6 years ago. It has been fun filling in the years, meeting his new wife, remembering his first wife (we all went to HS together), and making new memories. He is a career Air Force Major, although he just retired and took a civilian job with Lockheed doing the exact same thing without the pay or respect that the uniform and commission brought!

So, I will say it again, I am very lucky indeed. The internet is magical in how lost connections can be re-established. Maybe not all Boomers are this sentimental and nostalgic, but if I look at what was most influential in making me who I am, I keep coming back to those wonder years of high school.

The wife and I are getting ready to vacation in Maui next week. Expect an Aloha blog entry. Other big news for me involves a long planned and anticipated trip to Kenya for a mission trip of sorts. Details coming in future blogs as the departure date of July 8th approaches.

Chow!