"Happy May Day Kurt, Kass and Frank"
Later this month will mark 25 years ago that I graduated from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa with my wonderful B.A in French. I was not alone in my liberal arts folly. I had partners in crime named Kurt, Frank and Kathy(who I call Kass). All four of us had our degree in French. If memory serves, I think Frank had a double major in Poli-Sci and French, and Kass had hers in Business and French. I don't remember if Kurt double majored or not. In spite of our very different personalities and tastes, for some reason, the four of us just hit it off. The year we studied in Montpellier, France was a year that we all grew up, and lea- a lot. But that did not prevent us from having a really good time. Kass had an apartment where we would gather from time to time and Frank, Kurt and I would just spend the better part of the night just laughing our butts off at jokes we told at the expense of our teachers at "le Fac".
I got to thinking today about them. When we studied in Paris during our freshman May term, we got into Paris on April 30th and then the next day, our professor, who referred to as "Big Mac", took us to a May Day celebration to see all of the French Labour groups demonstrating. That was 28 years ago today. I was so moved by the day, that I wrote them a letter. Well, I wrote Kass and Frank-I don't have a current e-mail for Kurt. Here is the letter:
Hi Frank and Kass,
The Red-head and I had a quiet 24 year anniversary last night. We went to see humorist PJ O'Rourke speak at the University of Minnesota, where he did a nice job of scewering EVERYBODY from Mrs. Clinton, to McCain to Obama to the President. After that, We went out and had a really nice dinner at a Chinese restaurant by the U of M campus.
Today, as I was walking my dogs, it occurred to me that it was 28 years ago today we got into to Paris: You two, me, Kurt, Susan Bradley and Big Mac. Next month will mark 25 years ago that we got our Diplomas from the The Wart. Some things change: our hairlines, color of our hair, waistlines, our home mailing addresses, our jobs...but some things remain the same:Kass is still wildly independent, Frank and I are still with the same women we were associated with 25 years ago, and Kurt is still Kurt. We are still very different in our politics and our personalities. One other constant is my affection for you two and Kurt. I wish I had Kurt's e-mail to send this message to him, but I will have to settle for just saying it to you two. We all grew up together during our time in French class and at Wartburg College. I'm glad after this many years you can still call me your friend and I still consider you guys such an important part of my life. Almost every day, something happens to make me think of one of you. (Anything with Science Fiction, the Supreme Court or Democratic party makes me think of Frank,volleyball, global warming, penguins and watching the travel channel makes me think of Kass, watching a movie on Logo or any running event on ESPN makes me think of Kurt...and any time I drink a Guiness makes me think of Big Mac)
Oh yeah, and every time I have a belly laugh that is so strong that it hurts, I think of our slumber parties at Kass's apartment in Montpellier.
Some people ask me if getting a B.A in French was a waste of time. I don't know, I got a great wife out of the deal, I got to hang out with you guys, and I made friends in Montpellier who I still am pretty tight with. In the case of May and Gerry Gaertner and the "South African Consulate-Montpellier Branch", well, it had a profound impact on my life in getting involved hosting foreign exchange students.
You guys are the best. Happy May Day tomorrow, Comrades!
A` Bientot!
Steve
Good friends really are a blessing. Happy May Day to all my new friends who I have made in the past year, thanks to the blogosphere.
