Happy Labor Day, everybody. Do you miss me? Good. I miss you, too.
I know lots of people were asking about me at our Clifford J. Scott HS reunion July 20 in East Orange, NJ. Sadly, I could not be there as I am still tending to the affairs of my mother. For those of you who didn't know: my mom suffered a stroke last January 1; she is now in a care home in a nearby city. Later this month, she will have surgery to remove a lump found in her bladder. That lump will be tested afterward to see if its cancerous or not.
I really wanted to see how much you all evolved since 1989. From what I saw in the online photos, all of you have evolved very well. I am proud of ALL of you. I also wanted you to know how much I evolved since then. I’ve worked for companies on Wall Street and some tech companies in Manhattan. Since moving (back) to California in 1999, I’ve worked in places like Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Nowadays, I work as a contractor for the Department of Defense doing senior-level system administration work. I plan on going into more formal leadership training by this time next year. My philosophy is simple: if you’re not evolving by learning new and different things, you’re dying. Our world moves too fast with so many new things to learn and master in a short time we call life.
I must thank the following people on Facebook for providing photos for our 30th Reunion (in no particular order):
All of you look and are awesome. Enough said on that.
Here’s an interesting trivia question for all of you:
Who was the last person to have ever seen me in New Jersey?
I would have brought this question up at the reunion. Only I and that person know the answer. I would defer to that person to provide the answer. To help everyone out, here are three clues:
The answer, if that person didn’t provide it already to people at the reunion, would have been given at a later date.
While many of us Scotties are on social media in one form or another, there are some Scotties out there who are NOT on social media. Perhaps it’s lack of time, or privacy concerns. Especially for women, its fear of receiving online harassment. As I have to work with and through social media for some of my work and other networking, I get it. Â
Good news: despite being on the other side of North America from you, I still want to connect with you. Do you still want to connect with me? If so, and you are not on social media, talk to Elena Coley ASAP. She will have my telephone number. There are some people I used to know that I want to get to know more of what they have become. Let’s reconnect.
There is one person on Facebook that I’ve been trying to get a hold of but not yet heard from: Shreree Wiggins. Oh, begging my pardon: DR. WIGGINS. How’s life been treating you, Dr. Wiggins? Congratulations on getting your doctorate’ s degree.
Even with modern technology, and despite not seeing many of you in nearly 30 years, there’s no excuse for me or anyone else to get together.Â
In this age of rage, fear and distrust, we must all that we can to get together and evolve. I say this as our friends in Newark, NJ are experiencing lead in their drinking water - a situation similar to what is going on in Flint, MI. While I have my own water situation in my part of California to help resolve, I must ask: what are my fellow, former Scotties doing to help resolve this crisis?
Also, I’m not getting into pissing contests over whose class was the best. We are all different in one form or another. Still confused? See the prior paragraph.
On that note, I must go back to work now. The fog is starting to come in at the beach near my place.
I will do all that I can to return to New Jersey - even for a visit - before our 35th reunion. That’s my guarantee to all of you. As we’re finding out the hard way - myself included - life is too short. Let’s make the best of it while we can, reconnect, and reunite.
May your dreams be as high as the sky. Â
May your soul be as deep as the ocean. Â
Let’s talk more soon. Take care - ALL OF YOU.
prguitarman
amandla
blakekathryn
gracieabrams
romaincrisis
jacobvanloon
ellievsbear