No garden party, but...
reminisce with your old friends
In 1972, Rick Nelson wrote the song “Garden Party,” which became quite popular on the AM and FM airwaves. The opening lyrics linger as the years go by, “I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends.”
His song refers to a concert he performed at Madison Square Garden. The old friends he referenced included Bob Dylan, John and Yoko Lennon, George Harrison, Bo Diddly and others. My reminiscence over the weekend didn’t involve performing a concert and my cast of characters include Luke, Bob and Steve. John passed away 17 years ago. In high school, we joined as “The Lunch Bunch.” I wouldn’t trade them for any cast of celebrities. I have known Luke for 60 years, Bob and Steve for 55.
As with any artistic, complicated stitchwork like that which life is, we connect to each other in different ways: music, childhood experiences, high school adventures. After high school, we parted ways, and our lives took very different paths. The connections changed, though we never disconnected. The threads that joined decades ago are still intertwined though the spaces between them have expanded by time and experience.
Sharing memories, if only in email exchanges, is good for the heart and soul. Recollections of the “old days” serve to remind us that the experiences of today will be remembered as the “good old days” tomorrow. Unfortunately, it takes years of those experiences to instill the wisdom to appreciate them. If we don’t value them in the moment, hopefully we can come to treasure them in the future.
Rick was disappointed by elements of the concert that inspired the song. He did not appear for the final act of the show. I know that the members of The Lunch Bunch will appear for each other’s final act. We have once, and will again, until the last man standing.