Memory Lane

Mrs. Robi suggested the other day that my class writes about our memories of the last few years. I got to thinking and I found myself, as usual, in the Drama society.

The play at the time was Hello Dolly. The day's rehearsal was over. Benny and Kyle were carrying the soundboard to the stage to store it for the night. I was in the lead, clearing a path through the chairs. Then I have no idea what happened. I was flying. I was looking straight at the cieling as I flew. Slowly, ever so slowly, I moved through the air and landed on my back, like a beetle. Amazingly, it didn't hurt. But I've never been able to go near that soundboard again without some irrational fear.

Then the next day Josie, the co-directer came in and announced that she needed two husky men. So naturally, Nick Hixon and myself went out to help. We walked to her car and managed to pull the spotlight out. Nick and I pushed the spot to the door where it hit the threshhold and started leaning dangerously forward. We tried to pull it straight but somehow my foot got stuck. To lean it forward even more would free my foot but drop the spot. What a conundrum. Finaly, I managed to wiggle free and push the dumb thing into the building and roll it into position.

Another crisis averted by J Kuhl!

But then there are other memories too, unrelated to drama. Senior Retreat. 12:00 PM. I am in my bed, trying to sleep as the kids in the room next to mine are talking. Loudly. About sex. I was too disgusted to sleep, too tired to stay awake. The bloody hockey players wouldn't shut up. But after about an hour of their horrific conversation, I fell asleep. It seemed immediate. There came a loud knock on the door. It was 6:30 AM. Mr. Servidio was knocking on doors shouting "Good Morning! It's a beautiful rainy day! Time to get up!" I knew from that moment, it would be a long, long day.

Eventually, I woke up. The class then went to Mass, then we boarded the busses. I was planning to go to the Ninety-Nine with a bunch of friends once we got back. As the bus started off for Auburn, I was looking forward to this. Then the bus broke down at the first stop sign. While we were waiting, Jake flashed his chest. He's rather big, so it was funny, and yet disturbing. After about an hour ago, a mechanic showed up and the bus got moving at about 25 miles an hour for about two hours.

We finally made it back to the school. About 8 of us went to the Ninety-Nine. Mike was in heaven because they were playing old songs on the radio. It started to snow. We made our orders and we were joking around, waiting for our food. Mike's mother then showed up, very angry. She hates driving in any type of snow. She told him it was time to go. Mike argued that the food was still coming. She argued that it was snowing out their and Matt, Mike's brother, had an appointment. Mike protested. She aquiessed and left, rather angry. Mike wasn't in heaven anymore.

These are some small samples of my memories of the last four years. That is what the entire career has been, a mesh of stories strung together, woven with different characters and events. These are two random samples, but they are important to me. They show some of the strangeness of the situation. These are memories of a larger story, becoming more and more painfully significant as the end of this year rapidly comes to a close. I want to keep these memories, and all the other memories, to ensure that I never lose the experiances I've had.

Experiance is the world's greatest teacher after all. Do these memories have any special lesson to them? Perhaps. They give me some insight on how life works after all. I could take Mr. Servidio's cheerful attitude on a rainy day as a signal for keeping spirits up during dark times. His attitude also reveals how ironic, and maybe even cruel life can be. Every memory will teach me something though. Whether I consciously know it or not, I get something out of everything.

And in the past four years, I have gotten so many somethings out of these memories that now my life is so completely different than it was in 2002 that I wouldn't recognize myself four years ago.

"Captain and crew, Captain and crew, Take me, oh take me, To anywhere new." -Shell Silverstein, Falling Up, Needles and Pins

J Kuhl Signing Off