Borromeo 1962 Ohio

A mere three years after the Toushner Reunion of September, 2009, we are coming together once again, journeying South to join Tim Armstrong in his Kentucky Mountain Camp. How reminiscent is this of the summer CYO camps most of us worked at so long ago? This time it is 50 years to the month since our earth-rumbling high-school graduation. I, for one, didn't realize the significance of the golden-ness of the occasion until later in the evening when Nims mentions the half-century mile-stone.

Tom Nimburger, the principal instigator of this gathering, Mike Conforte and Tony Touschner drove from Cleveland, Amelio Ciccolini and I from Columbus and Jim Caughey from Florida. We rendezvous at a nice hotel near the Interstate in KY, to refresh and plan the remaining stages of the trek to Tim's hide-away. Tom has thoughtfully provided a bounty of refreshments and appetizers. Tony, ever true-to-form, grabs a cat nap, while the rest of us finish the logistical planning and catch up on the current state of affairs. We plan rigorously but still find time for a little political sparring and gossip about those absent, as is our wont.

Those still in harness we missed, but excused and saluted: Frs. Frank Kosem, John Burkley, and Walt Jenne, as well as the late Frs. Norm Smith and Dave Fallon. We also saluted the memories of Bob Biehl, Mike Reynolds, and Pat Murray.

Bob Casey had checked in by phone from Arizona so we were updated with his current family medical doctoring. Tom Ribich has also recently been in touch but is in the process of moving to Texas. Jim Richardson, seeking a brief respite from those nasty Alaskan mosquitoes, is engaged in his usual summer bike adventure, this time from Pittsburgh to Washington DC. Steve DeJohn had been intending to join us, but as issues compounded themselves, withdrew from the expedition.

Those who have avoided or missed us for whatever reason, receive some little scrutiny or benefit from our hypotheses as the circumstances warrant, including Ron Clark, Tom Nowak, Dick Pepperney, and Emil Pustotnik. We wonder "what ever happened to": Frank Eck, Pat Kaine, Bill Korinko, Gerry Millett, John Moritz, Tom Murray, Joseph Rich, Tom Tomsik, and Joe Zawaski. Ugh, shame on us, we have missed or lost track of the majority. If any of you guys come across this, please give us a shout...

Dinner was a low-key affair at a small restaurant across the way. A lovely lady agreed to help with a group photo. The salad bar was wonderful, and included edamame soy beans, one of my favorite vegetable addictions. Tony became perplexed by the amount of gluten he was ingesting from the graham cracker crust on his cheesecake. Apparently intellectual acumen is not always associated with an action orientation. Soon a knife was produced and Tony was guided into the process of slicing off the offending crust and peace was thereby restored. Libations or in my case a swim, were soon finishing off day one of the celebration.

As to the group at hand, currently: Nims is running a rehab consultancy. Tony is still doing a little lawyering on behalf of Social Security recipients. Mike Conforte is still working software wonders with state and local governments while funding the acquisition of one of the former Sandwich Islands. Jim Caughey is trying to wind down from doing cell tower electronics and/or fire chiefing. Amelio is retired from the Ohio sales tax, but busily keeping in touch with everyone and everything. And your humble correspondent, trades index and stock options, being retired from insurance and accounting for 11 years. As to the states of our health, well, let's say we are all "just happy to be here and hope we can continue to contribute."

Mid-morning Saturday, after a memorable ride twisting through beautiful hills and valleys, we finally arrived at Tim's mountain retreat. Never one to be too lackadaisical, Tim has a security team in place that, after checking our credentials, directed us to him. Tim had not yet arrived from the recluse of his cabin, so we waited for him at a charming red picnic table with umbrella. When Tim did arrive, soon after, we hugged and greeted him as friend whom we had missed dearly for nearly these last three years. He nearly kept his composure, and did seem to be genuinely moved by our reunion efforts. Tim chose to wear shades of forest-green and khaki, so closely he is identifying with nature and the verdant Kentucky hillsides. His retreat is working wonders for his health, as he has dropped about 25 pounds from his previously average corpulence. Currently he grows delicious tomatoes in his greenhouse on the hill, and his glowing tomato-like countenance reflects how healthy it is to be engaged in such agricultural avocations. What a shame it dosen't also retard the onslaught of follicle degradation.

After the Sun continued its climb, putting the picnic table in its strong rays, we adjourn to the inner chamber, where we gather around a small open space to continue our reminisces of the past and hopes for the future. On the topic of health, Tim mentions the difficulty his cousin Tom Whelan had in getting a proper diagnosis of his hip deterioration, but once that was finally obtained and the hips replaced, he got a new lease on life, and a huge improvement in its quality. Tim himself, works constantly at staying healthy, because the remoteness to all but dental health resources out there in Appalachia makes most medical access quite inconvenient. We then take turns describing how magnificently each of us are keeping our own states of health, or not so much as the case may be. Then conversation takes on a life of its own, as two or three streams of thought interweave themselves between and amongst our participants. This continues for several hours, as we graze through a light lunch provided there for our enjoyment.

Nimsy, even takes time to educate me in the "undistributed middle term" of Aristotelean logic, to the great satisfaction of all... Something about his table is not a tree, but might have been. Tim mentions how some of his former partners and business associates have or have not yet taken to camping as a means of self-improvement, and what it has meant to those who have. As to what the future holds, Tim is looking forward to an early and imminent departure from this camp, hopeful of completing it before the end of the year. Following that he will undoubtedly want to stay in touch with the camp counselors for a time. But in any event, we should soon be having another reunion celebrating his return. And that is something we can all be looking forward to...