Strollin' Down Memory Lane

Nostalgia has a funny way of bringing out the Cheese. So set your "Cheesy Meter" on high and read on at your own risk :)

Ken Hicks wrote a song familiar to many folks:
"This is a song for all the good people
All the good people who touched up my life.
This is a song for all the good people
People I'm thankin' my stars for tonight."

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to take a stroll down my memory lane at the 2nd Annual Internapoli (my childhood travel soccer club) gathering where I was given the 30-year-old brochure and patch (shown at the left) by my old soccer coach.
Yes, he kept a bunch of mementos from the glory days of our boyhood travel soccer club - and amazed us all on Saturday with these treasures from our past. My coaches, Nick and Tony, had a good laugh at the fact that they 'stole' me from another soccer club, and the hell they took just to put me on the team (plus, no expensive transfer fee). Nick said to Tony, "We just had to have this kid!" And maybe that was a bigger treasure than the booklet and patch. I mean, to see these guys joke and laugh and compliment me after 30+ years. And I'm so thankful to them for touching my life and bringing me into the Internapoli family. The great times we had; the great friends I made (I'll get to them in a bit). Just thinking about Saturday - you couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

The fact is that for whatever reason, I am so blessed with so many good people that have touched my life in one way or another. So, this post is for all of the good people that have touched my life! The amazing thing is that they come from all walks of life - and I'm privileged to stroll down memory lane with them often because they are still part of my life. Where would I be without the amazing people that have been in my life for decades. I'm not going to name names for fear of forgetting individual folks (I mean, I am old), but you know who you are (probably the 5 folks that still read this blog are on that list). However, I can point to significant places and seeds that have flourished in my life.

1) I'm thankful for my beautiful Wife, Kids, and Family. (No, that's not sarcasm honey - as far as you know). Like many of you with your own families - you know we live the amazing moments over and over together.

2) I'm thankful for Work Colleagues. Over the years, you have helped me keep my sanity and provided much needed friendship and laughs - through the good times and the difficult times.

3) I'm so thankful for my camp and youth group friends. I mean, some of these folks I have known for 22-34 years. Two to three decades, a lifetime ago, and we still are privileged to be in touch in one way or another. Obviously Facebook is a huge help, but FB doesn't replace the memories, the lasting impacts that are made, the love that is felt even over the distances and time.

4) I'm so thankful for my Shorashim friends and family. I have Israeli and American friendships that have lasted decades and over oceans for more than two decades (some as long as 27 years). The things that we experienced together are unexplainable and unbelievable. Without my Shorashim friends and family, my life would be completely different in so many ways. I mean, how many people have multiple beds in another country, multiple doors in another country that would be open in a second in any time of need? I do.

5) I'm so thankful for my friends from the various schools I have attended and the places I have lived. Some of us started attending school together in 3rd grade in Buffalo Grove in the old neighborhood, in the 1970s - and some of are still in touch. The connections of life experiences run so deeply - our parents know each other and no matter the situation, we are family. I have been so moved and inspired by some of the folks from the 'olden' days. I have cried with them and their tragedies. I have been inspired by their stories of courage - inspired to run and keep in better shape.

6) And I'm so thankful for the fellas that I played soccer with Saturday, 30+ years after we shared the

fields as kids; 30+ years after we won tournaments together; 30+ years of damn good times. Some of these guys played with me through high school. We had a good laugh at some of those pictures like the black and white one to the right from 1984. The color photo is some of us from today. A little less hair, a little less stamina, but a lot of the same good people.

Saturday, we rolled out a ball and ran around like we were teens again. A lot of the communication still there. We were joined by our 2 coaches, who looked on with pride and hugged us like we were their sons, and we were joined by our coach's daughter - a little sister in so many ways to many of us. In truth, we were a big family back then - playing on the field and hanging out at coach's Italian restaurant. I pretty vividly remember watching Italy's 1982 World Cup victory with some of these fellas. And when I drive by the fields of our youth, I can picture us running around in our blue and white (and green & gold) uniforms.

I loved every minute of the time I spent with the guys on the right; we told stories (especially of Coach Habs) that reminded us of the many great times we shared together. As I sit here, I remember many more.

I hope the folks from all of the major areas of my life know how much they have impacted my life. Thank you, all of the good people in my life - I'm so thankful for all of you. I hope we get to stroll down memory lane for many, many more years. I have learned from so many of you. I have laughed with so many of you. I have depended on so many of you...

...And I have cried with so many of you. Because the fact of the matter is, the more you stroll down memory lane and reminisce about the good times - the more you feel the impact of what's been lost over the years as well. Today we felt that empty hole in the form of our old friend, Dom, who was taken from us way too early, during the year between last year's Internapoli reunion and this year's reunion. It breaks my heart that I missed last year and missed hugging him one last time, but I'm told he was his old self - cracking jokes, smiling, the life of the party. And today we played the game we love without him...but he was not far from our thoughts.

Dom taught me a lasting lesson this past year: at our age, we have to live in the present, but we also have to take every opportunity to stroll down memory lane with those that have impacted us over the years, with those that we have loved over the years, and with those that have just come into our lives that provide more lanes to stroll.

We hear it all of the time, but seize every moment of every day. Life is so precious and so fragile that we shouldn't waste our time away. Thanks to my Internapoli buddies for making Saturday a shining moment; thanks for making 30 years disappear like it was yesterday; thanks for coming from as far away as Minnesota and Florida and Wisconsin. And thanks to Dom for reminding us that we should do this again next year or as soon as possible. Today he wasn't on the field, but he was in our hearts.

Epilogue of Sorts:
Ironically, I've been writing this Carpe Diem of sorts over the past few days and the news of Robin Williams' suicide just hit. Though, Dominick's death was not suicide, both losses are reminders of the preciousness of life, and that we should live every day like it is special.

Additionally, it's a good reminder that depression is a terrible disease. If you suffer, please get help. As I've said above, my life is much richer with you in it; I don't want to bear the thought of it without you.

RIP Dominick Manzella & RIP Robin Williams