Lifelong friends

In no particular order here are some of the lifelong friendships I forged during my four years at Xavier University:

Hot Apples, Thin Man, Dutch, LJ, Wally, Donger, Chubby Howard, Freaky Tiki, Fert, Maynard, Fly, T-Biscuit, Consuelo, Horsehead, Mr. Youngstown, Bittey Main, LC Greenwood, Dingo, Hanna Banana, Carol Marol, Flynner, Craiger, Cron, Dr. Nick, TK, Tone Loc, DC Cab, Johnny Jackass, LB, JB…

The list goes on, but I’ll stop there. Also the names have been changed to nicknames to protect the innocent (or, much more likely, the guilty).

Nearly 44 years ago, a poor hillbilly from Arkansas arrived on Xavier’s campus for freshmen orientation. (It was his first time seeing the campus – college visits during high school are for the coddled.) He carried nothing more than what could fit into his two suitcases. Along with some emotional baggage. And a healthy dose of trepidation. Coming from a high school graduating class of a whopping 19 people, in the sticks, just being in a city was daunting enough, let alone trying to make his way at a school he knew very little about.

He learned a bit in his classes. He learned a lot more from life beyond the classroom walls. In the dorms, in the cafeteria, at the b-ball games, at the bars.

A litany of happy memories. A life filled with friendship. My bank balance is still low (Mrs. Dubbatrubba can attest), but I’m not poor anymore. My life is so rich because of the friends I made more than four decades ago who are still my friends today. Friends who have been there for the ups and downs, the happy and the sad.

Life happens. And death too. We’ve lost a few friends, most notably LJ and Ned. We miss them every day, but we are grateful that they were part of our lives.

Thankfully, some of the folks listed above actually paid attention in classes. And they had the grand idea to start a new scholarship fund at Xavier. One that will provide a bit of a boost to kids who want to return to Xavier for their sophomore year, but are struggling to make the finances work. The math ain’t mathing, as we hillbillies say.

Several of us have anted up. (My contribution has fewer zeroes behind it, but every little bit helps.) LJ and Ned were the inspiration, but we want it to go beyond our core crew.

It’ll make sure that a kid… and eventually, with more contributions and the miracle of compounding interest, many kids… don’t get cheated out of happy memories and lifelong friends.

It’s called the XU Lifelong Friends scholarship fund.

A very fitting name for an extremely worthy cause. Because just like Xavier’s namesake Musketeers, we are “all for one and one for all.”