Time Machines

“We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams.” ~ Jeremy Irons

I’ve been doing a lot of reminiscing lately and wondering how the years have flown by so quickly. And man that makes me feel old! First there was the realization that my 20-year high school reunion will be next year. I realized this about the time a webpage was created for our class and when classmates from high school started coming out of the woodwork on facebook. I currently have 51 facebook friends who I knew in high school! Crazy.

Another event that took me back in time was the 70th anniversary of Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch & the 60th anniversary of Girlstown, USA. I spent some very formative years working at Cal Farley’s. I learned so much about the public relations field and participated in so many exciting things while there! I met celebrities like Dale Evans Rogers and Willie Nelson, pitched a story to People magazine and watched as it actually got published (!) and forged some very special, long-lasting relationships with some of the best people on earth. I always tell people that I think God plucked people from their corners of the earth and placed them at Cal Farley’s – the people who work there eat, breathe, and sleep the mission of providing homes for children. They are salt of the earth people and I love them dearly. When my invitation arrived in the mail for the 70th/60th anniversary celebrations, it stunned me. It seemed like just yesterday that I was working there and we planned the 60th/50th anniversaries! Ten years have flown by! The anniversary brought back some fond memories of all the fun events we had that year. I also remember being in a hotel room in Lubbock, getting ready to drive out to the Girlstown anniversary event on campus and hearing that John F. Kennedy Jr’s plane had gone down. I was able to meet up with some of my old buddies from Cal Farley’s when they celebrated the anniversary here in Austin at the Capitol…it was so nice to see them.

And the very next week, my alma mater, West Texas A&M University, held a 100th anniversary celebration here in Austin. I attended the event at the Bob Bullock State History Museum and ran into the former alumni director, aka Mr. WT, who was also my supervisor when I interned in the Communications dept. at the college. Saw a few other familiar faces and even met some new people. They did a great job highlighting the history of the school at the event, bravo to the planners! The event made me realize how much WT has changed since I left, ahem, 15 years ago. There’s now a fancy, new pedestrian mall, an entirely new fine arts bldg, and even a performance hall/arena! In fact, Dr. Maya Angelou is speaking in the new arena later this month! I’m hoping to make the trip up to Canyon to see her. It’ll be my first time on campus in at least eight years, maybe more.

And then there’s another anniversary looming…the second anniversary of my dad’s passing is Monday. At this very moment, I am holding up ok, but it’s always there in the back of my mind. We’re not doing anything formal, I guess we’re all just going to mark the event in our own ways. It seems like much, much longer since I saw my dad. I miss him every single day and still yearn to talk to him, to hug him. But most of the time, memories of my dad bring a huge smile to my face. He influenced my life so much that I literally think of him every day because I’ll say or do something he would have done, or I’ll hear a song he liked or whatever. I’m so lucky to have those memories.

In fact, I feel lucky to have all the memories I’ve talked about here. It’s the memories we have that will carry us through to the future. They help shape your hopes and dreams. I have no idea what the future holds for me, but I do have some dreams and I hope they come true. And if not, I’m sure that the adventure in trying to make them come true will be just as exciting.