Twenty-five Years a Wahoo

Tomorrow afternoon, I will head to the center of the known universe in Charlottesville, VA, to join several hundred classmates from the University of Virginia, Class of 1987 for our 25th Reunion.  It is a weekend I have been looking forward to for five years, as the 20th Reunion was an occasion of great fun, wonderful memories, and incredible friendships. We--and the Class of 1962--are the big deals this weekend, an event that gathers classes spaced five years apart and uses economies of scale to put on some wicked awesome parties, interesting seminars, and great eating occasions. 

I am not ambivalent about my time at UVA, and I am not neutral about the impact that place had on my life.  Next to the home I grew up in--nothing--not even the Navy--comes close to having had the impact on producing the man I am than the four years I spent there. 

During a lunchtime thought experiment once, back when I was in the Navy, a fried asked me whether if  "...God himself came down right now and said "I will make you the Chief of Naval Operations--all it will cost you is your memory of UVA"--would you take the deal".  The answer came swiftly and unequivocally.  Absolutely not.  And if God came down today and said, "I will make you President, if only you agree to have your memory of UVA slicked", I would not take that deal.

I'll bring my computer with me and try to capture some of the meaning of the event.  Pictures are sure to follow.