nobody asked…

Saturday night was Geezer Night. We get together several times each year for dinner out or at one of our homes with everybody bringing a dish. Good food and drinks are not the focal point of these get togethers, rather they are celebrations of each other, of lives started together, gone off in diverse directions, and now merged anew as we found each other again.

Sometimes there are four of us, usually six, occasionally eight. By some definitions, we are all seniors, ranging in age from mid-fifties to mid-sixties. We prefer the label of Geezers, said, of course, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, as we are all quite healthy, vital, and viral. Or maybe that’s virile? Healthy means we are all ambulatory, can sit up and take sustenance on our own. Vital refers to the fact that we can all articulate our well thought out and stubbornly unchangeable opinions on important aspects of life, politics, government, religion, and the side effects of various blood pressure medications. We still matter in a world gone nuts. And virile — I forgot what that means; let me check with some of the others and get back to you if any of them have any ideas.

Jim and Cousin Gloria (a couple) and I were in the same high school class. Cousin Linda and Cousin Glenn were a bit younger. Linda’s husband, John, is a native of Nashville. Glenn’s wife, Alacia, is from back home. And Roomie calls Cleveland, MS, home. Our home town in West Tennessee was and is quite small, the kind of place where everybody knows your name … and your business and every time you sneeze. Growing up together in one huge extended family with more cousins than we could count, Gloria, Linda, Glenn and I were naturally very close. We were back and forth to each other’s homes constantly.

On graduation from high school, we all went away to college, after which we all pursued and achieved some level of success in our chosen fields. The group includes present or former dentist, high school football coach with multiple state championships, big national retail store manager turned banker, Fortune 50 corporate executive, a couple or three educators, a published author, and an entrepreneur. After many years and many miles with little or no contact, we all ended up in the Nashville area. As we sought each other out, we began to understand that we were re-creating something very special that had been lost for so long. The spouses have also become as integral to the whole as are the cousins.

Life’s bumps and bruises and twists and turns have tempered each of us differently. Though we emerged from a common background, there is a rich diversity that now distinguishes each of us from the others. I proudly anchor the left end of that spectrum. Some of the others eye me suspiciously, while at the same time giving me a warm and sincere smile. If we would allow it, out differences could get in the way, but we are too tightly bound by our similarities and our common ancestry to let that happen.

Whether we all live for only one more celebration, or another 25 years of enjoying each others’ company, I believe they are as happy as I am that we roamed the earth until we found each other again. We embrace. We clasp hands. We kiss. We say I Love You.

Yes, cousins … Geezers … I love all of you! Thanks for enriching my life … again!