1. Before I headed up to Salem to meet Terry and Roger for lunch at the Ram, the Deke and I got together for coffee at Vero with Walker and Ingrid and enjoyed yakkin' about teaching, playing music, travel, and the wacky world of roadside attractions in the USA.
2. Terry, Roger, and I have a long history together. Not only were we high school graduates together and high school basketball teammates, but we became Oregon friends, as well. Terry and Roger were already Oregon residents when I moved to Eugene in 1979, and we joined forces countless times to watch the Ducks play football at Autzen Stadium and watch major sporting events like the Super Bowl or NCAA basketball tournament games on television. As time moved along, and our family and work responsibilities increased, we no longer indulged in boozy Autzen Stadium blowouts and we saw each other less often. So, once I knew I was coming to Oregon this weekend, I immediately contacted Terry and Roger and we were all free to have lunch.
We had a lot to talk about and enjoyed a couple hours of swapping memories of everything from U of O football games to our days at the YMCA, talking about the loss of our parents, and getting caught up on things currently happening in our lives. I am hopeful that the Deke and I will return to Eugene before the end of the calendar year and that Roger, Terry, and I can get together again.
3. Back in Eugene, I picked up the Deke at Laura's where she'd spent the afternoon with Laura and TR and we joined a lively barbecue dinner at Francoise and Herb's house. Francoise wanted to get the Deke back together with Martha, her former principal, and Suzy, a 4J French teacher. One of the Deke's first Charlemagne students, Joey, came to the party. It was a vibrant party with a lot of serious conversation about all sorts of things and many stories about the life at the school and in the 4J district. At one point during the party, Patrick called the Deke to say he was in Eugene and so she invited him over and it was a great surprise to see him this weekend and he seemed to very much enjoy being a part of the festivities.
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