Stan's talk at Anderson University

Stan Williams, one of my beloved roommates from college, spoke at our alma mater,

Anderson University today. Stan has ALS. He spoke candidly, without being sad or depressing, about what that means for him, including the fact that his remaining time has been considerably cut short.

Stan's talk was interesting, fun, wise, challenging, spiritually profound, insightful and, like Stan, witty. (Although, I thought it was in somewhat poor taste for him to take up two offerings.)

I am so proud of this man. He is living well and--this is important--he is thoughtfully, purposefully, meaningfully helping others, while he demonstrates to us--with God's help--how to end well.

[Note: I also appreciated the fact that Stan waited until after the big public talk to reminisce with other college friends, Debba and Jordan, about some of the more regrettable hijinx we engaged in during those fun-filled times a hundred, or so, years ago. Lol!]

A Visit To Anderson University Homecoming

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Leaving For Homecoming At AU

We'll be leaving for Anderson Univ. (Indiana) soon for homecoming weekend, then back home tomorrow evening. Yes, it’s true, the state of Illinois has had some troubles over the past few years but I’m hoping all of that will be cleared up and things will be perfect here in our fine state when I return. .….That’s a pretty reasonable expectation, isn’t it?

P.S.  If you're a bad guy, you should know that there are people staying at our house.  Oh... and several of these folks are dangerous Shaolin Priest Kung Fu experts.  So, don't get any wise ideas!

Video: Here's How We Bring Taylor Home From Anderson

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Carly Is Crowned...Homecoming Queen!

We hurried from lunch to get over to the Anderson University campus for the Homecoming football game, half-time festivities.

You say, “Dan, do you mean to tell me you are actually entertained by the half-time programming at a football game?”

No, not really.  We were excited about getting to the game at half-time in order to watch my beautiful and talented niece, Carly, be crowned...

…The Anderson University HOMECOMING QUEEN!!!

Well, we arrived as the Homecoming Court took the field. 

“Whew!  Just in time.” I said.

To see Carly standing out on the football field was such a joy and such a proud moment.  She is not only a lovely young woman, but she is also a fun, witty, interesting, intelligent, caring and terrific person.  The students of AU got the right person for Homecoming Queen.  (As you can tell, I’m not the least bit biased.)

My mind went back to the years when my brother Cam (Carly’s father) and I were students at Anderson.  We both were given strict instructions to remain at least 50 yards away from the Homecoming Court at all times, and there was some other similar language in the restraining order.  Wow, just think, here we are only one generation later and Carly is the Homecoming Queen!  My how things can change, huh?

Yes, it’s a tremendous honor and responsibility to be the Homecoming Queen.  But I think even more significant than the $50,000 in prize money—and the diamond-studded crown, which is hers for life—is the main benefit of being Homecoming Queen.  Yep, you got it, the “main benefit”.   You see, for the rest of the 2010-2011 Anderson University school year, Carly, as queen, is allowed to give orders to everyone in Anderson and the greater Madison County metro area and her orders must be obeyed.  It only makes sense, right?  

That really is a neat perk.

In fact, for her first official order Carly said, “Uncle Dan, if you write one of your crazy stories, please try to get the facts straight.”

That’s true.  In fact, that’s an outstanding challenge for a person who attempts to maintain the kind of journalistic standards for which I strive.  I should get the facts straight.  But, frankly, I’m not writing from Anderson or the greater Madison County metro area—to be honest, I don’t even think there is a “Madison County metro area”—so, as you can see, I don’t have to follow the orders.  I’m in a different jurisdiction.

Oh well, even Homecoming Queens have to deal with odd and perplexing realities of life, like having strange uncles.

Congratulations, Carly!

Lindsey, Carly & Cam, after the Homecoming Game.

         Later that evening, Carly, before the "Encore" show at which she will perform.

My Mini Epiphany At Anderson University

We dropped off Taylor at Anderson University this weekend—this is the university where I went to school, although it was called Anderson “College” then and instead of computers and cell phones, the students had quill pens and an elaborate system of tin cans and strings.  (Yep, our technology and sophistication had progressed far beyond smoke signals.)

While Taylor was setting up his room as a learning environment designed for maximum academic achievement [“cough”…“cough”] I went walking around the campus, taking in the sights and sounds; feeling waves of memory roll over me.  I was stunned to find that one of the buildings even “smelled” exactly the same as it did when I was a student.  (Or, maybe it was that barefoot guy, it’s hard to say.)

Many of the students are back on campus after summer break, so as I walked around I would nod a greeting and smile.  I think I only frightened 3 or 4 of them.  (I’m basing that on the amount of pepper spray.)

I saw joggers.  I saw a couple holding hands and walking through the valley.  I saw a few small groups of students sitting around talking.  I saw people wandering aimlessly staring like dorks at everyone else…oh, wait a minute, that was me.

At one point, a group of girls walked past me and I recognized them.  They were the same girls who were on the campus back when I was a student 30-something years ago.  Well, that’s not exactly true, they were different girls.  But in a way, they were the same girls.  And then, very suddenly, as I looked around, I realized that all of the same students were there on the campus.

Before you call the authorities to have me turned in—which has already been tried twice—let me explain.  What I mean is that, in a general sense, there are “types” of people.  I don’t mean that we’re not all original, one-of-a-kind creations of God.  Of course we are.  It’s not my intention to be demeaning to anyone.  But it is still true that there is a sense in which there are certain types of people, who tend to “look” a certain way and who tend to “do” certain types of things.  I’m suggesting that as I walked my old campus, I saw all of those “types” from my college days, once again, as I looked at the current students.  I really did.  It was an odd and faintly amusing feeling.

I found myself chuckling as I looked around and this reality was confirmed to me more and more.

So much has changed since my time on campus, but you know, in a way, it is very much the same.  And all of the same people—come on, you know what I mean, by now—in a way, all of the same people are still there.

My walking experience, along with my realization that all of the same people are still there on campus, was sort of like a mini-epiphany for me.  (Can a person have a “MINI” epiphany?  I don’t know, but I’m claiming to have had one, so there!)  In fact, I was so taken with my new insight that upon returning to the room, I immediately shared it with Taylor and I could tell that he found the whole concept fascinating because of the distinctive sound and tonal quality of his snoring while I rambled on and on with this extraordinary theory.

Anyhow…did I mention how the room is set up for maximum academic achievement?  Okay, just checking.

Taking Taylor To Anderson University Today

We're taking Taylor to AU today to begin sophomore year.  [His, not mine.] I have a father’s bias, of course, but I see him becoming an outstanding young man and I’m proud of him. A time of preparation and learning is important and valuable.  I pray that God will guide him and help him to prepare wisely for a life in which he is used by God significantly wherever life takes him.

Trip To Anderson...Summer Break Begins

Last night Nadia and I drove to Anderson, IN to pick up Taylor from school.  He has officially completed his freshman year…I can hardly believe it!  (But I stopped in to check with school officials and they confirm that it’s true.  And then they charged me $250.00 for asking.  College is expensive.)

On the way to Anderson, we got stuck in a horrible traffic jam in Indianapolis.  One of the worst I have seen in a long time.  Have you ever traveled about 3 or 4 miles over the course of 50 minutes, on an interstate highway?

Grrrrrrr!!!!!  It’s really frustrating.

[By the way, I looked up “Grrrrrrr” in the dictionary and couldn’t find it.  But I’m pretty sure that’s how I felt, even if it isn’t a real word.]

And then, when we finally got to the point where the traffic started to move freely, do you know what it was that caused the traffic congestion? 

….Well, join the club.  Neither do we!

There was no wreck.  There was no incident involving large amounts of debris all over the highway.  There was no escaped elephant from a local zoo laying down on the highway taking a nap.  There was nothing!  As far as we could tell, there was nothing that caused this terrible gridlock.  At a certain point on the highway, the traffic just started moving again.

Has that ever happened to you?  Stuck in heavy traffic, barely moving, frustration…and then, at some point, it just starts moving again for no apparent reason?  Why, I ask you?  Why?  Perhaps it’s one of those imponderable mysteries to which we’ll never know the answer.

We were planning to meet Taylor and Lauren for supper at about 8pm.  But because of this traffic jam, we didn’t end up getting to the restaurant until about 9:30pm.  This incident made for a long, frustrating, exhausting, patience-draining trip.

Fortunately, on the way home today, there were no troubles, no major traffic incidents.  And after we got to the house and unloaded all of Taylor’s stuff, I was ready to lay down and rest for a few minutes.

But guess what?  Yep, you guessed it.  An elephant from the local zoo was taking a nap in my bed, so I couldn’t lay down!

Grrrrr!!!!

[I just looked it up again.  It’s still not in the dictionary, but maybe if I use it often enough the folks at Webster’s will catch on and include it in the next edition.]

The LONG, LONG Drive To Anderson Indiana

It’s Sunday night, the Sunday night at the end of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. And, once again, I’m writing from a hotel room. We took Taylor back to Anderson University tonight. And guess what? So did everyone else. I don’t mean everyone was driving Taylor around—although that WOULD be quite a treat, huh?—what I mean is: everyone else was taking their kid back to college tonight; or everyone else was coming from home grandma’s house; or, apparently some people just got in their cars and went out driving around for the sole purpose of clogging up all the highways.

What a mess! A drive that would normally take 3 ½ to 4 hours took over 5 ½ hours. You read that correctly, five and a half hours!

In the process, I also discovered that the backseat of a Chevy Malibu is a very uncomfortable place after about 4 ½ hours. Yeah, I’d love to tell you that I have feeling in my lower torso, but I don’t. There’s no point is leading you on, I have no feeling in my legs.

But the good news is that we made the drive safe and sound, despite really crummy weather and terrible traffic. We passed by several wrecks and…hey…wait a minute. Hold everything!…Could that be?.... Yes…yes…it is! The feeling is beginning to return to my legs. Awesome! It looks like I’ll be able to walk again. Hallelujah! It’s a good evening, after all.

From Anderson, Indiana…good night.

No Tears . . . Almost

We said goodbye to Taylor and left AU this afternoon. Nadia kept stretching the goodbye out from one destination to the next. But finally we ended up standing by the van and said a final farewell. As I pulled away, I noticed Taylor walking all by himself back to his dorm room. But you know what? No tears.

Then we began the 4 hour drive home. Nadia and I talked about the orientation experience and how we were feeling. We spoke philosophically about the changes that were happening and the nature of life. But you know what? A four hour drive home and no tears.

When we arrived at the house, I walked down into the "lair". Our basement, that Taylor had taken over and made into his own "pad". The lair where all the guys hung out. The place where often two or three nights a week, sometimes even during school nights there were guys spending the night. The place from which I could hear conversations coming when I would wake up to go to the bathroom at 3 o'clock in the morning.

I stood looking at the empty lair and bawled like a baby. Tears.

Nadia walked up to me and said, "What's going on?" When she saw me crying we hugged each other and cried. Tears.

Tears are therapeutic. Tears are good. I feel better now.