Looking Back to Look Ahead...

Oh yes, the weekend... glad that it's here. It's supposed to rain and be in the 90's here on the Ohio-Michigan border but I don't really care at this point. I'm just looking forward to a little r-n-r from the day job. And broadcasting some ball on TV today if the weather holds up... so far so good. This week was just a weird week. The day job was nutty... dealt with lots of freaky folks. I'm not trying to judge, but... well, this was typical of my days at work:

Me: "hello, can i help you"
Female Caller: "yeah, I'm looking for ....."
Me: "Ma'am, how do you spell that please so I can look it up for you?"
Caller: "I don't know! Don't you know how to spell???"
Me: Trying not to laugh... "let's try this again"
Caller: to someone in the backround... "you know what baby? hand me a shirt. I have to put a shirt on today. I've been walking around all day without one..."
Me: trying not to be scarred by the mental picture... "uh, ma'am, we don't have a patient here with that name... have a great day"... click...
Me: "Me thinks me needs a drink!"

As my workday was ending, I got a call from a dear old friend Heidi. I've known Heidi and her husband Mike for probably 20 years. We played volleyball together for what seemed like an eternity... But anyway, Heidi calls and tells me there is a mini-reunion of some of the former ICU staff from years ago and are getting together at Shorty's BBQ... I didn't have any plans so I thought I'd stop by and see a few friends from years gone by... Back in the 80's, I used to work up in ICU as an orderly. I loved working with those folks up there because we did everything together. We worked, laughed, cried, partied, went on picnics, vacations, you name it. I went to work in a different unit later on, but while I was a part of it, I really enjoyed it. Saw a few faces I hadn't seen in over 15 years or so... someone brought some picture albums and it was a stroll down memory lane. Looking at the girls all sitting there in front of me, it almost felt like 1987 again. When I looked in the photo albums, I saw some folks that triggered some wild memories that I had long forgotten about. There were even some pictures of me in there from when a few of us played in Mud Volleyball tournaments. Oh my... I think the weirdest thing I experienced was seeing a couple of pictures of my first girlfriend. That brought back a few memories. Some good, some not. But I have the benefit of time passing along to gain some perspective and when I saw her picture there, I chose to smile and think of her in a positive way. She's married with kids living out east now. I hadn't thought about her in forever. But friday night, seeing her pictures in the photo album, made me think about a time in my past when things were simpler, but also more wacked out. It made me realize where I was emotionally back then and where I am now. I really like where I am now :) I'm a much more stable and happy person today. But for one night, I looked at the past without pain, anger or frustration. Nope, just with laughter, smiles, and fondness...