Well, Wally and I had a fantastic day. I returned in a sense to my old teaching roots in Lynn, Lynn, the City of Sin- you never come out the way you went in. Which is ironic cuz I thought the goal was Heaven. That’s what I learned anyways. From a couple of good teachers. Actually, I needed lots of teachers. Listen, I mean I am not a perfect guy, but hell, I sure try.

Back to the story at hand, my beautiful wife and darling daughter gave me a ride to a retirement party for a former colleague I know as Mo. My spirit was lifted when I entered the main room of the Italian-American Club in Peabody and saw the familiar faces and the Retiree. The joy I saw on Maureen’s face as she celebrated all over the place was truly a sight to behold. She knew her time had come and now she could spend all her time at play. For her that means Disney. Roller Coasters and Mickey Mouse. Of course, I chuckle at the thought because I just want to walk Wally You know what I mean?

Oh and teach. I love doing that. Like I was born to do it. Did I ever tell you about my friend Dan who once claimed that I was genetically mutated to be a teacher? Great line. Great guy. I love Dan. As a matter of fact, I also saw my old assistant baseball coach named Dan who’s a similar guy. Just goes with the flow and understands sometimes ya gotta go. It’s good that my friends all seemed to have peace and joy at the party. They truly understand that they are where they are for a reason. I think that’s special. Like me. Oh wait. I am not special. I am lucky. And blessed. Ed knew this. Ed is now in heaven and I can tell you for sure he was not happy with the Celtics loss either. Just sayin’.

Ironically enough, Wally and I also got a text from my oldest dearest friend Patrick who sent me a line to listen to and offer advice. Hey that’s what I am here for and I hope I seem nice. Pat’s the guy that loved the Celtics more than I. But together we bonded about basketball and baseball all the time. We played Nerf Basketball in my parent’s bedroom because that provided the best court. I am not sure if my parents knew that Isaiah Thomas (Me, because I smiled all the time) was engaged in heated battle with Larry Bird (Patrick) in their bedroom. And other places as well. Don’t ask why. It’s not usually a good reply. You don’t need to know why. Just understand we played nerf basketball so intensely that we even brought the game into school. As seniors in high school, we really played nerf basketball in our “senior lounge”. And we probably took more basketball shots together in our lifetime than Steph Curry. We would go to Franklin Park every day at the appointed time set by him- (Time is not my thing) and from second grade on we counted how many we made…I should ask him how many baskets he’s made in his lifetime. We started counting those shots around 1979. I will have to call him back so we can compare our numbers. I lost count sometime in my 30’s. Oh well. Who’s counting? Maybe he did a better job keeping track of the shots he’s made. I only know he’s done a great job with Maria to raise two beautiful smart kids who will seize the day…when their time comes. But good luck to his son Brian who seems to be gifted with the power to amuse.

I also ran into another old friend. Her name is Alex. Which seems right. We taught Math together at Marshall. Way back. I was her inclusion teacher. I kid you not. She was just beginning, and had a great mom so she was on the right path to teaching math. And she got to teach with me. Which can be fun. And interesting. Ask my friend Lori. She will tell you many stories about how I tried to entertain and address the needs of the students while they were just trying to teach. One more thing about this Great Alex…she has an amazingly dry sense of humor. It is probably how she tolerated my nonsense. I would drink my seltzer water and watch her use the Whiteboard and dry humor and that is how we lived the dream. But the night belonged to Mo. She has reached the end of her professional journey and can now play Mickey Mouse whenever she wants. That’s her dream.

And my dreamy day was perfect. Mo party. Pat advice. Play catch up with Alex my friend, (not my father or my son). Can’t get much better than that. I will have to let Dan know how great my day went. I know he’d love the stories that all started after I heard these 3 words…

Thanks for Coming!