Ben Cook

To The One and Only Class That Mattered:

Has it been 40 years already? Or perhaps just a moment in time, James 4:14, now for the rest of the story.

First the 25 words or less version--Wow! Now the long, drawn out version; this probably is a lot more information than you can ever hope to use, but then some of you might just appreciate some of the subtle changes life has had to offer since the last time we got together. Now for subtle redefined.

I have this funny thing hanging down under my chin that I didn’t have 10 years ago. They have a medical term for it; I just don’t know what it is. I have hair grown in places I never expected I would and wish it would grow in places it doesn’t anymore.

My barber, for jumping up and down, cuts more hair from my ears and eyebrows than from the top of my head and charges two bucks more, then has the guts to tell me I am getting a good deal! He says he had to raise prices cause he was going broke, and he just bought a new house—what!? And on top of all this, he wants me to go Sassquatch hunting with him; says he knows right where they’re at; says he knows this fellow who saw one?! Uh, oh! Here we go.

I haven’t measured lately, but I think I’ve shrunk two inches in height and gained four inches in width. That means, of course, my Levis are bigger round at the top and all bunched up at the bottom -- never used to do that. If I want to look at my belt buckle, one of three things has to happen. I look at it before I put it on, or my wife describes it to me after it’s on or I stand real still in front of a mirror and look at it backwards just to make sure I’ve got the right one, as if it mattered. You just can’t get by life without first going through it.

There was no such thing as grandkids at our 30-year reunion. Now God has blessed us with six of them and they are the light of our life. I chase them; they chase me; agate hunt and rock polish, movies, fishing, the Mall (or “maul,” if you prefer), picnics, baseball, dance competitions, church and just about the time Mom and Dad are about ready to have their 19th nervous breakdown, we babysit.

I got married to Diana in October of 1998 and have had a very full life with her. When I said, “I Do,” I became an instant Grandpa and never looked back. My wife is the love of my life and we have, at times, gone full circle with each other. We have loved and fought, kidded around, yelled and screamed, pointed fingers, laughed and cried, kissed with passion, frowned and smiled, forgiven, let go, got close, prayed hard, held hands, slept in separate beds, compromised, struggled, snuggled, wondered, worried, and dreamed. Through it all, we’re still in love with each other.

After 33 years, give or take a minute, I retired from construction work on January 1, 2006. and have been having a ball ever since. I am going to make every effort to make sure that trend continues.
I still white water raft, shoot, play “ole time rock n roll,” fish, listen to Christian radio, come to Bellingham to have a Lee’s burger and visit my sister, and usually in that order. Then before I leave for rattlesnake country, I’ll take a run down Cornwall Ave. past our old school. I am deeply involved in Bible studies, travel when time and gals will allow and, in general, just have a good time with life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I stopped and looked at a walker once and wondered if the tennis balls on the back were an option, even sat in a wheelchair, didn’t stay long, had my blood pressure and heart rate checked at a local Rite Aid just to see if the machine really worked and bought two magnifiers that were on sale. I have even more underwear than I did 10 years ago. It’s a security thing, and I thought all this for old people. I probably don’t need to tell you what my next thought was.

I think I am still best friends with Tom Joyce after all these years, even though he blames me for everything including, but not limited to, his underarm fungus, which is some sort of rare tropical disease he picked up while in Alaska at a golf symposium in January of 2000. It’s not fatal, but it does terribly impair judgment. If you make eye contact with Tom, he will immediately, if not sooner, want to show you his fungus; and, for Pete’s sake, don’t even look at or mention his feet. That story will drag on for days — consider yourself warned!

By now all of us, to one extent or another, have been through a lot of different things in our young lives with hopefully more to come. Taking the bad right along with the good and smiling through it all. But over the years, I have personally come to the conclusion that everything happens for a reason…everything that keeps me moving in this brand new century, wanting to see, if ever so briefly, what’s over the next hill or around the next corner and with all things considered…that it’s not the destination, it’s the journey.

Now may God bless you all with his grace, love and mercy…..see you at the reunion.

Ben Cook