Rock Chalk Jayhawk

Friday through Sunday, we spent a too-quick weekend in Kansas City, Missouri and Lawrence, Kansas for Jane's 20th college reunion.  The trip also allowed Alex to see -- and Ella-Anne to meet -- her cousins Libby, Megan, and Johnny, her Uncle John and Aunt Pam, and her Aunt Katie and Katie's boyfriend Daryl.  Nana and Papa also made the three-hour drive from Wichita (which Uncle John calls "The 'Ta," and others refer to as "Doo-Dah" -- I know not why).  Herewith, some observations.

1.  While it probably seemed like a good idea at one point in time to get a tent on the hilside of the KU stadium for the class of 1989 reunion, I'll bet no one thought it would be 38 degrees with a wind so strong that it caused the kickers to miss the first three extra points of the game.  It was go[sh]-da[rn]ed cold out there.

2.  It's not possible that it's been 20 years since my wife graduated from college.  She looks young and spectacular.  So do her friends.

3.  While there were a lot of great moments from the weekend, one stood out.  In the refrigerated tent, we met one of Jane's classmates, Steve, and his partner Francois.  Steve had not seen Jane for 20 years, and upon meeting me he told me what a hero my wife is.  To wit:  When they were in school, both of them served on an "AIDS task force," sponsored by the KU Student Senate, which made available "safe sex kits" -- which included condoms.  In the mid-1980s, this was a brave act indeed, particularly for a sorority member who also taught Sunday School at her local Catholic church.  Well, Jane's leadership with the AIDS task force caused her to be fired from her job as a Sunday school teacher, and resulted in a sermon being preached from that same church's pulpit -- with Jane and her parents all in attendance -- excoriating certain "student leaders" for their involvement in handing out condoms. I've always known that my bride is a woman of grace, nobility, and conviction, but it was awfully nice to hear that coming from Steve himself.  Besides, Steve and Francois are great guys -- they live in Boston these days -- and I hope we'll get to see a lot more of them now that Steve and Jane have reconnected.  Alex and Ella-Anne should hear from people other than their Daddy what an astounding woman they have as a mother.

4.  While we were all partying with the class of 1989 -- and I use the term "partying" very loosely, since I had a total of one beer and one mixed drink over the course of the weekend -- Nana and Papa took charge of our daughters.  On Saturday, they went over to John and Pam's house where, it was reported, Ella-Anne's little butt never touched the floor, because someone or another was holding her ALL THE TIME.

5.  At dinner on Saturday night, at John and Pam's house, we celebrated Papa's and John's birthdays and (as noted earlier) met Kate's boyfriend Daryl.  (Daryl had it easy -- I met the Hutchinson family at Libby's baptism, meaning that I met EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF THE FAMILY AT ONCE.)  At one point, Daryl -- who has spent a lot of time, including college time, in Texas -- was telling us about how it was a very popular thing to attend prison rodeos, where the prisoners would compete to pull a bag of cash off of the horns of a steer.  (I saw this once in the movie "Stir Crazy" with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.)  I was particularly proud of my response to Daryl:  "Katie's told us a lot about you, but she neglected to mention that you had done hard time."  I'm sure he looks forward to seeing me again.