Last weekend, I traveled to Middle Tennessee and met up with college buddies Mike, Country and Justin for MTSU's big game against Mississippi State. The four of us called Reynolds Hall on the MTSU campus home way back when and it was the first time we had all been together in a dozen years. If you've read Cypress Walls, Mike, as you may recall, was with Heather and me the night we took a swim in a fountain near downtown Nashville. Country, too, is mentioned in the book, including a story about a late night frog gig at a Murfreesboro golf course. I'm pretty sure Justin was with us on that occasion too.
Throughout the weekend, we shared countless laughs remembering the people, places and events that made up that 18 months of our lives. On Friday night at Mike's comfy suburban home it felt little had changed as we stayed up until 1:00 a.m. with beers in hand, flipping between ESPN and reruns of "The Office." But as the weekend continued to unfold at Cracker Barrel, Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium, and Toot's, our conversations took a more grown-up turn. Don't worry - there were plenty of sarcastic barbs flying back and forth, especially when I ordered oatmeal and a muffin for breakfast. Much of our discussions, however, revolved around our kids, spouses/significant others, pets, careers and mortgages. Later on Saturday night, Justin headed back to Shelbyville and Mike and Josh took turns dozing off as the Yankee-Angels game went into extra innings. I called it a night in the 11th inning. In the fall of 1995, none of us would have gone to bed without knowing the outcome.
Did we have a good time? Absolutely. Was anyone a tad disappointed that we didn't drink from a funnel or play a few rounds of beer pong? Nah, I think we all realized before our reunion that we left those days of incorrectness behind a long time ago. Plus, Mike's wife assured us on Saturday morning that she would not be bailing out anyone who felt the need to take any wayward detours down memory lane.
Fellas, let's not wait so long between visits. Hopefully next time the Blue Raiders will put on a better show, the sun will come out and there won't be an empty seat in the house.
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