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Mike Tasos: A trip down memory lane sans politics
Mike Tasos

Social media is valuable. It’s fun. It’s a nuisance. 

Whichever ones you fancy, take this one to the bank: It ain’t going away.

And I’m OK with that.

I’ll play along and use it as a source of amusement, staying connected, networking and trying to win a house, RV or Disney tickets by responding.

Not really. Entering a contest on Facebook makes about as much sense as baseball games with cardboard cutout fans in the stands.

Oops. That’s MLB 2020, complete with piped in crowd noise. I wonder if teams are going to inflate attendance figures?

For me, Facebook as of late has been a downright blast. If there’s a textbook way to using this tool, I believe some classmates have found a marvelous way to have some fun.

Most of us who’ve been communicating attended Saint Lawrence School in Bakersfield, Calif., in, gulp, 1969. Some of these old-timers I haven’t seen in those 50 years. 

There are some funny stories, remembrances of shenanigans, antics and minor criminal activity. 

It’s quite a lineup (with no mugshots):

Tim: He could (and should) write comedy. If he got any consistent grade, it was certainly an “F.” As in funny. His wit is as good as anything I’ve read.

John: He drives a truck in California. We took Zoom for a test drive and it was surreal, seeing a long-ago good friend on my Mac. During an earlier phone call, he shared some life events. “Redemption” is the word that came to mind.

Diane: I reached out to her month’s ago. The first name confused me because she was “Agnes” back then. Another good story of a cancer survivor. The world continues to shrink as Diane’s late husband was my cousin’s best friend’s brother.

You must pay attention so as to not get lost.

Meegan: The first, last and only Meegan I’ve known with two “e’s” She’s an amazing artist, teaches and paints pet portraits. She lives in a Nevada city that you’d never figure for an art hotbed. Evidence that life is mostly attitude and timing, Meegan lived less than 10 miles away from me when we were living on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain near New Orleans.

Dianne: She’s the one with two “n’s” in her name. I reached out to her upon hearing of her brother’s passing. In a message, she told me I was always such a good friend. I’d like a mulligan on that one.

Wendy: She was always kind. Now she’s a kindly great-grandmother. 

Yikes! Can’t believe I just wrote those words. Like Jimmy Buffett sings: “I’m growing older but not up.”

Sharon: A retired Delta flight attendant. Didn’t even know she went to Saint Lawrence before I got there. My memory was jogged back to 1991, when I saw her on the up escalator at the Atlanta airport. I was going down.

Suzan: Same as Sharon. Left the hallowed halls before I arrived. Never met her but feel like I know her.

The Prevagen must work as advertised, at least for me. The memory of a crochety seventh-grade teacher was described as smelling like baby powder and cigarettes. She had a strong set of pipes. Minus nicotine and talc, perhaps her bellowing could have broken the sound barrier.

We’re trying to get more classmates to join our merry band. We’re reaching out to Cisco, Kendra and Suzanne from our class. A very good friend, Michele, lives in North Carolina. She’s been peeking in. 

I just know we’re going to get more. If all goes well, we’re going to do a Zoom call this weekend. 

We’ll be missing a few. Jim, Tim, Clayton, Gerald and Dewey are no longer with us.

Found out Dewey was in the military. He was definitely country before country was cool. 

I am saddened at not being able to someday hug his neck and thank him for his service.

Funny, through all the reminiscing, nary a word about politics has been written. No one has been offended. It’s just been fun and thought-provoking in terms of memory jogging.

To me, that’s the “social” part that makes me treasure this new interaction.


Mike Tasos’ column is published every other weekend. Don’t you dare bore me with political views. You won’t be alone in your ability to change my vote or views.  Comments can be sent to miketasos@earthlink.net. He is also on Facebook.