Sunday winsomeness. Just got the scanner working again, and Alice handed me this window onto another world for a test scan.
This photograph from 1986 (as near as I can remember) offers ocular proof of my distant kinship with Bryan Alexander. (Who knew?) It also offers merriment, at least to me. 1986 was not an easy year; in fact, 1986-1989 was quite a bumpy ride. But when I see this photograph, and that brainy fox who for some reason thought it was worth hanging around me (and for some reason still does), I feel merry. I made it out of the trough. Plenty of troughs and mountains since then, of course, but also the knowledge that I made it out–and with that brainy fox still at my side.
Hello, brother from twenty years ago. Be merry! You’ll get your degree, you’ll get a job as a professor, you’ll find more interesting people to learn from than you ever would have imagined (and you could imagine meeting lots of them). Some of your close friends in 1986 are still there, still pushing you to be your best self. New friends, vital companions, keep coming. In three years you’ll be learning computer animation on an Amiga. In four years you’ll have your first email account, and meet the first friend you’ve discovered online (over a bulletin board called the Blue Ridge Express). Later that year, your son will be born. In six years you’ll get your degree and move to San Diego for two years to teach at the University of San Diego. In eight years you’ll move to Fredericksburg and begin your career at the University of Mary Washington (nee Mary Washington College). Two months after your arrival in Fredericksburg, your daughter will be born. Things get even wilder from there–and then wilder still.
Troughs ahead. Mountains ahead. Be merry!
Photograph by Michael Thomas
EDIT: The photographer contacted me with the following corrections:
The B&W photo you blogged was from the fall of 1987, from your and Alice’s first visit to meet Helen [Michael’s daughter]…. The same B&W sequence, of which I believe you have a full set of copies, includes one of you introducing Helen (in her swinging bassinet) to electric guitar.
Apparently even in the full throes of late grad school fugue I was doing something productive for the next generation, although history will record that Helen became a drummer, not a guitarist. I think the principle holds anyway.
And now my friend Michael has made a guest appearance on my blog.
Great picture of Alice. It doesn’t look like she’s aged a day. But who’s the hairy guy she’s with? 😉
The guy who’s aged several days.
Dude!
Mon semblable!
Mon frere!
(no hypocrite lecteurs need apply)
Wow -“What a long strange trip it’s been …” Kepp on truckin’
What a lovely picture of the two of you! You will not remember me, but I was a student at the 1985 Governor’s School under your leadership. (Extreme side note: I had a friendly correspondence with Fred [hi, Fred!] for a while thereafter, and when I told him I’d be going to Mary Washington College, he told me about Carl’s ice cream stand.) I graduated from MWC in 1990 and was interested to learn through the alumni magazine that you began teaching there later. I discovered this blog by accident (a Google search for William Kemp led me to your blog entry for when he retired last year), and it’s been really interesting to read about you and your teaching (and learning) experiences. Thanks for sharing them and your pictures! Best wishes, Julie
What a great story! I do remember you, Julie, and fondly. In fact, that 1985 Governor’s School was a real high point for me and Alice. Perhaps Fred told you that most of the faculty and staff were so reluctant for the school to be over that we stayed through the weekend instead of leaving right away–a rarity in my experience. You were a wonderful group.
If you’re ever in this area, Julie, please do get in touch. I still see Kemp from time to time; I owe him a lunch, as I recall. Perhaps we could all go out and catch up. I didn’t know Bill in 1990, but I strongly suspect he hasn’t changed much. You might could pick me out of a line-up, too, though I don’t look much like the above photo anymore.
Thanks very much for coming by. It’s great to hear from you. Best wishes to you as well! Gardner
Well, heck, if I’d thought you’d remember me, I’d’ve gotten in touch with you sooner! But then maybe I wouldn’t’ve found this cool blog.
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I remember Fred telling me about you all staying a little longer at Governor’s School. I’m sure we all would have if we’d been allowed! That was a very meaningful time for a lot of us; we even had a reunion the following December (or maybe the one after that) in Richmond.
Maybe you don’t look like your ’87 picture, but your top-of-blog-page picture sure looks a lot like I remember you from ’85!
It would be great to catch up in person. If Dr. Kemp gives his okay, I’d love to join you for lunch sometime. I did write to him recently, though, so he may consider himself all caught up with me. At any rate, I’m more or less in the area–I live in Greenbelt, Md., which is about a 15-minute drive from Adelphi. I’d be happy to make a road trip to Fred’burg.
Thanks for writing back!
–Julie