Farewell, LRD!

A couple of weeks ago, CKD posted me with sad news…Medaille’s former campus president (and all around excellent dude) Leo R Downey, passed away at 86. Leo had been in ill health for quite a while, living in NYC.

Leo was incredibly important to Medaille, although the past and current administration probably won’t do more than a web reference and some flowers for LRD’s funeral. I hope (and wish) for more to honor Leo. Most Medaille folks probably didn’t know everything Leo did to save the campus back in the late 1970s/early 1980s when colleges like Medaille, small private liberal arts colleges, went flatline and closed. I knew.

I knew how much Leo believed in us, Medaille students, and the Medaille culture. LRD loved how the Derelicts felt Medaille was their home. Even when we played tricks on Leo, like when Carl and Ripper wore the “I’m Hard” and “I’m Erect” Hello stickers to Freshman Orientation, he played along. So, maybe LRD wasn’t happy when we had the first years drink multiple fifths of Jack Daniels’ at fall orientation and put some students into the hospital (sorry, Leo!)…he understood why we did it: To be at Medaille meant going all out to do what you were asked. Sometimes we asked everyone to do more than they could handle…

We’ll all miss you, Leo. You were a great man and a wonderful college president. I will even miss your red tuxedo. No one else could have worn one with as much style and panache as you, Dr D.

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/obituaries/story/351753.html

Catching up with Old Friends

One of the weirdest things about growing older is that even though in our minds and in our conversations we’re young, there are tell-tale signs that we’re not that young any more (at least chronologically).

Case in point: My friend David, who lives in Kansas and has two really cool, now really grown up daughters. I remember when they were very young, like 3 and 6, and they’d visit our campus office when David had to teach and couldn’t find a sitter. Now his daughters are either in college or graduating from high school this year. It took me a moment to realize just how many years passed between the last time we saw each other and now.

I think the last time David and I spoke, he was going to be a contestant of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and he asked me if I could be a lifeline. He didn’t need me that day, although I hung around the house to wait for his call, and I’m not sure how he did — obviously, though, he didn’t win a million bucks.

Then the weirdness that is adulthood took over both of our lives. Until recently, that is. We chat online now and again, catching up. Visiting as only people these days can in a virtual world.

David still makes me laugh, and still shares pretty much the same political views and I think probably drinks just about the same amount of coffee that we did in graduate school. He also knows what I like to read, and he’s given me a few titles to consider in my spare moments. I still value his opinion on things, although I’m still wondering why he liked Bloodrock’s “DOA” as a kid — but, as he said, death seems a whole lot more distant when we’re 10 compared to when we’re turning 50.

He’s also done a hell of a job raising his kids. They’re funny and smart.

Sort of like what my friend from college, Carol, has done with her two boys. Last time I saw Carol, her first born was 6 months old, bouncing around in a Jolly Jumper in her living room outside of Cincinnati. Now he’s going to be 16, and her younger son is going to be 12. She’s moved a few times for her job, and the three of them returned recently to Cincinnati.

When I speak with Carol and David, I realize just how much life we all deal with everyday. Parents’ deaths, children growing, careers that ebb and flow, relationships and marriages that crumble, how we weave in and out of each others’ lives. We pick up where we left off and travel down the road for a while together.  

Sometimes we just don’t realize that life really is good — especially when we’re catching up with old friends. I’m glad they’re both in my life again. It’s nice to be around people who “get you” even when you think no one does.

And even though we’re all turning 50 this year, we still rock out like we’re 20 (without something as stupid as Guitar Hero!). May we have many more of those moments ahead….

Blogdelirium Returns!

The Cool Bunny is back…

 I’ve moved Blogdelirium from its old home at Blogger (blogdelirium.blogspot.com) to WordPress. The new site is called (rather unoriginally) Blogdelirium Redux.

Why move the old site? Well, like any move in life, the change is complicated. But, in a few words, WordPress is more robust and I can do more teaching and interactive things than I could at the previous location.

So, we’ll see how this goes. I’ll be spending more time on the blog in 2008 than I have the past couple of years.