The chatter that comes with 17 people seated at one long dinner table tends to drown out the sentiment, the humor and the poignancy of meaningful words. That's especially true if you're the host adult sitting at one end of the table or the youngest hild some twenty feet away at the other end. The table clothed covered wooden picnic tables held plates and silverware, cups and napkins, candles and flowers. A giant bowl of pesto pasta, a platter filled with grilled chicken breast and another filled with juicy steak tips tickled the senses generating anticipatory salivation from the gathered guests. Before the food could be enjoyed those words had to be heard.
It's not clear who among the former Ithaca College housemates began the thought. It may have been Kevin who started to count the years since we had first met. He had to confirm with Larry, as we always do with facts, that our connection began 29 years ago as we walked into our Terrace 5 dorm and began life long friendships. Andy, from the host's end of the table, raised his glass to wish the children and teens and the other end the same good fortune we had shared. He hoped they too would feel the benefit of making and retaining friendships some 30 years after they began.
For Jamie and me (she too is an Ithaca graduate) the journey to get to this year's reunion at Colcord Pond, Maine took us on a journey through five states. I'm reluctant to count the hours driving in the car as compared to the hours out of it (sleeping time excluded). I suspect the miles covered would add up to more than the time shared. Somehow the memories fade of the extensive time on the Massachusetts Pike or the Interstate 84's and 95's or State Routes 28 or 16. And, the bond rekindles with those longtime friends.
This trip began in our home state of New York into neighboring Massachusetts. We dipped into Avon, Connecticut before reaching our suburban Boston Friday destination. Old college, television and golf buddies Karl Ravech and Bob Maxon had already warmed up the first tee when I stepped out of the car and into my golf shoes. Before we even struck the first shot, the good natured razzing, teasing and taunting was underway. As the round progressed the competitive side also returned from the same place it grew on the municipal Newman Golf Course on the shore of Cayuga Lake in Ithaca in the 1980's.
When the round was complete, refreshments were served and personal conversations concluded it was back in the care to finish that ride to Southborough, Mass. It was there we would share a delicious meal at the Wasburn's primary home before retiring at the house of Larry and Liz Levine in Wayland.
First thing in the morning we were out the door heading north to Lake Winnepesaukee. We wound our way through the back roads of New England to arrive at the beach front rental of Kevin and Sara Hagy. We jumped in the mild waters of the lake. We towed the kids on tubes. We toured the jagged edge of the recreation hot spot by pontoon boat. We even got spotted by the Coast Guard and Secret Service keeping watch over the summer home of presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
A day on the water and we returned to the motorcade for the 25 miles trek over the border of New Hampshire and Maine to our fifth state and intended destination. The familiar site of Colcord Pond near Porter, Maine was less familiar this season due to a break in the dam that helps the spring fed pond retain its water. That leak left levels too low for boating. We made due by preparing dinner, setting that long table and rehearsing for the after supper fireside performance with Andy on guitar and me on vocals.
The collection of children that once had to be entertained and perpetually asked to help took over the sound system and the dish washing. They danced their way through a stack of plates, a pile of glasses and a drawer full of silverware. You couldn't help but smile to see the connection among this group descended from those moments 29 years ago when we first unpacked in that Ithaca College dorm.
The stars had aligned back then by virtue of independent decisions to experience college on the same campus. And on this night in Maine the stars twinkled in the sky again, offering evidence that the satisfaction of this destination made the journey that much more worthwhile.
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