Today was shopping day. That means a 55 mile drive to Santa Fe to stock up at Whole Foods. It’s only another 55 or so to Albuquerque so we added that to the shopping trip. The reason? I had not seen Steven Hether since high school graduation 51 years ago from Oliver P. Morton High School! Steven and I have communicated on Facebook for several years and decided that since we were only 100+ miles apart it was time for a reunion.
We first met in 6th grade when Steven moved to Hammond, Indiana and entered Harding Elementary School. He was placed in Mrs. Zarth’s class and so was I! We moved on into 7th grade together, but Steven’s family moved to a different district for 8th grade. I spent 9th grade in Seattle and then we were reunited in 10th grade. That’s a brief history of our connections. Of course we talked about all the details. No I will not bore you with those here.
It was great fun to share memories of grade school, junior high, and high school. One of my vivid memories of Steven was his commitment to civil rights. He and his older sister joined the NAACP in Hammond when they were in high school! They were the only white members of that chapter. This memory stuck with me for many years, although I did not have the same commitment at that age. For me it was one of those ethical check points to which I often returned as I forged my own ideas about justice.
Neither of us has change a bit. Okay, I admit, I have less hair.
Travels With Picasso 
As everybody knows, the beauty of books is that you can reach page 333 and then leaf back to page 57, hence savor a detail that have been forgotten. It is wonderful to see that the same is essentially true of life in general, and that one can leap 51 years backward and find someone else with a bit of common past. How lovely? And what are a few hair lost when considered in th infinity of time?
You have a good memory. You got all the facts correct! I really look forward to the next visit with you and Jean, either here or at some meeting point to the north. Safe travels.
I didn’t quite have all the facts correct, but you straightened me out on what I mis-remembered. For instance I was sure you went to Selma with your sister. You talked about her trip at the time and it made such an impression on me that my memory had you there marching with her.
Friends of long standing are such a gift! What fun to share history and get the updates.