Thoughts on Graduation

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Nearly 30 years later, I can barely remember crossing the stage for my college diploma at SUNY Oswego.

Frankly, it’s a blur. (Which means I had a good time in college).

But I do remember graduation weekend. My parents made the long drive from Eastern Long Island to upstate NY and stayed overnight in my off campus apartment.

My late mom– three years younger than I am today– slept on a mattress on the floor in my room. All I had was a mattress, and I kept a towel under my door to keep the mice at bay.

It was a lovely place.

The wind off Lake Ontario would whip through the walls and my dad had to use a wrench to turn the shower on. Yes, we are talking rustic upstate charm. But I loved it.

Still, after a few winters on Lake Ontario (where winter is 8-10 months a year) I knew I would be heading somewhere warm.

California or Florida. One or the other. I was 21 years old.

This weekend, we are heading to Gainesville and Tampa to celebrate the college graduations of two of our children. Samantha earned a special education degree from the University of South Florida and Ben an accounting degree from the University of Florida.

They worked hard, were well prepared after graduating Atlantic High and really blossomed at college as students and as people. We couldn’t be prouder.

Both are passionate about their chosen paths; Ben for accounting and business and Sam for teaching and kids.

I was less certain.

Other than wanting out from under the snow, I wasn’t really focused on a career.

I loved to write and was interested in business but I was still waiting for some answers.

I thought I would write for a newspaper and one day I would try and own a weekly. I did not aspire to work for the New York Times but I was very interested in community journalism.

I had never heard of Delray Beach but after canvassing California in vain and a year working for newspapers in Binghamton, N.Y. I was ready to give Delray a whirl when I got called for an interview at the old Monday-Thursday papers headquartered on East Rogers Circle in Boca.

I remember driving to the area on A1A and marveling at the palm trees and the big oceanfront mansions. I left early from my friend’s parent’s condo in Lauderhill giving myself plenty of time to find the newspaper’s offices. I took the leisurely route across the Linton Boulevard Bridge and then north on U.S 1.  until I reached Atlantic Avenue.

It was June 1987 and Delray was a vastly different place. Not much happening in those days but I found the town appealing. There was Ken and Hazel’s, the Colony Hotel and The Phoenix. There was the Spanish River Inn (where the Marriott Residence Inn stands) and the Arcade Tap room.

Very nice, I thought; a tad sleepy but the skies were blue and I was out of upstate NY.

Finding myself with some time to kill, I went south to the old Boca mall on US 1 and I remember going inside and finding a bookstore.

Then it was time to find East Rogers Circle so off I went. I got lost. Really lost.

I drove up and down Congress Avenue and couldn’t find East Rogers Circle.

This was pre GPS days and when I stopped at a local gas station they had no idea where I was trying to go.

I went to a pay phone and called the paper asking for help. A kind woman gave me directions and I found the paper off of Clint Moore Road. I was late, nervous and embarrassed.

I was also sweating through my cheap suit in the hot summer weather. But I got the job and started a few weeks later as a general assignment reporter in Delray. That meant planning and zoning board meetings, city commission marathons, looking through police reports and trying to learn what a CRA was.

A day after I started we were herded into a meeting. The paper was sold. Whitney Communications had sold us to Worrell Enterprises.

Yes the same Worrell that would end up purchasing the Sundy House a number of years later.

At the time, I knew the Sundy House as the former home of Delray’s first mayor. When I got the Delray job, my editor gave me an old chamber guide and I spent my first night on the job reading about the city’s history.

I worked for Worrell Enterprises for 10 years and never met the company chairman Tom Worrell until I was on the city commission and he tapped me on the shoulder one night after a ribbon cutting at the House of Vintage on South Swinton. We went across the street to the Sundy House and had a glass of wine.

All of this is a long winded way of saying that life is very unpredictable in a magical way.

And that the places, jobs and people that play a role in your life often don’t show up until later chapters. Delray? Who knew. Newspapers. Business. Politics. Vague notions.

So as I watch the graduation ceremonies this weekend I will wonder where the road will take my children. They seem to be on a path. But life is roller coaster ride wonderful and also  has a way of throwing us some curveballs too.  I hope serendipity will be kind, but I’m confident they are prepared for the journey. And I hope I will be around long enough to see many more chapters.

Comments

  1. Nice article, Jeff. I’ve always enjoyed your writing over the years. Congratulations to Samantha and Ben.

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