Whatever happened to Peter Nash?

I am back. It has been a while since my last post. In the meantime, I spent 8 days aboard a Caribbean/Atlantic Ocean cruise. We sailed from San Juan, Puerto Rico and made our way to Port Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey (Newark, really, for those keeping score). Once again, I was in the New York area in the spring and once again it rained. Apparently, I go every 14 years and it has always rained.

I can go on about the cruise and may do so in some later posts. I think I will, because I heard some funny things while on board. This is about the most recent weekend. It was my high school's 50th anniversary. William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute first opened it doors as Southview Collegiate in 1960. The school was thrown up in a hurry so it was named by the students in 1962. It got the name Southview because it was built south of Northview where many of the students of my area were then crammed.

Anyway, I had not been back to that school in over 20 years. I did, by sheer happenstance, attend the 25th anniversay back in 1985. I was tired, rough and have no idea why I was there. I was there with a friend, Dr. Crack (a chiropractor), and who was the first person that I recognized before I entered, Dr. Crack and his wife, Mrs. Crack. Lovely folks, them Cracks.

Twenty five years ago, I had only graduated two years earlier, so there was little meaning for me, then. This time, it was quite surreal. I did not really remember the place. I never made it upstairs. I got into the foyer and was transformed back to the early 1980s. I checked out the caf, and it had been painted so seemed a bit different. A buddy and I wandered the halls and they were foreign. Of course, the shop was on that side, so I do not recall really being in that particular hallway at any point when I was in high school.

The turnout was high, yet I did not see nearly as many people as I had hoped. Many of my friends could not seem to get over their old high school wounds. I figured, "Fuck it!" it was high school, it is done. Then again, I was and still am, easy going and get along with everybody. I never got too close to anybody and nobody was ever too close to me, so if drama or bullshit began, I just flitted to be entertained by somebody else. It really does work for me and seems to have always done so. That way, I have no reason to hold a grudge against anybody for lo these 30 years.

It was the excuse that if I have not seen them in 27 years, there is a reason. Pity, because I got to see, though, I did not speak the truth on this one, one girl that I had known since junior high. She was always beautiful, and still is. The thing was that during her teen years, she always seemed sad and dour. In junior high, I and a bunch of my buddies, would hang out at her house in the evenings. I always liked her, could not stand her older brother, and always felt that there was a great life spark in her. That is why I hung there.

She just had this emotional wall around her, especially in those days. As I said, she looked good and when she smiled, she looked great. I have to tell you, she seems to smile and awful lot now. I sense that she has gotten comfortable in her own skin and I was really happy to see that. I did recognize her right away.

All that said, I do have to ask this question....where is Pete Nash?

Ciao!