Interesting People I Met in Indiana

    Gary, for one. He was from Utah; he served his mission in Utah. (A mission, despite the racist and mocking works of Parker and Stone, is a good deal of service and dedication by a full time volunteer of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.) It was an English-speaking mission nor far from his home, I think. But, what made him unique, to you and me, I would wager, was that he became a subject-matter expert in East Africa. Most specifically, Gary was tuned into Tanzania and a political or cultural leader, whose name I must look up. About 98 percent of the world has never heard of him, I would wager.

    But this guy, Gary, went to Indiana University in the 1990s to study more about all of the above, with Swahili in there too, I am sure.

    Gary. What became of him? Likely by now a fixture at some university somewhere. Maybe he has written some books.

    Good for him, and us, and East Africa.

    Who else? Someone from Indiana, born there...

    Not as many came to mind.

    There is Dick, sure. He may have been born and raised in Tell City. He served in the Air Force, I am not sure how long. He was happily married, a strong member of his church and faith, helped raise three sons. Two of those sons did church missions in South America, one Spanish-speaking and the other Portuguese. The son in the middle had early troubles with discipline and the law, so maybe that one struggled to make it, but like a lot of Hoosiers, hopefully came through all right. The other two boys went on to marry and have kids; at least the oldest one. The college one went to teach and be farther away, I think Texas.

        Sometimes the interesting things about a person might be the children that they have begotten. Perhaps so, in Dick's case. He has learned fluent Spanish and uses it with me when I see him. His beloved wife passed away a number of years ago. 

    Who else? There are others. Sandy, Megan, Chad, and a host of others.

    Many not born there, but I knew them there. Jake was always interesting, I think. There were others that I knew as a kid. And later.

    Enough reminiscing and analyzing for now. Some people think that running through old memories and thoughts is trivial, meaningless, or even wasteful. I do not. I believe that all these reflections, as the word suggests, reflects on me, on life, on the workings or the inner constructions or weavings of me, my life, the lives around me.

    It goes on and on and never ends.

    Pretty cool, this memory thing, I say. Life and nostalgia are pretty sweet.

    Thanks Gary and Dick, and a host of others that I met in Indiana. Thank you for being a part of all of it.