Memory Lane

I just got back from Washington, D.C. last week after attending a conference on international education. While I was there, I called a friend of mine that I hadn't seen in a while . . . and when I say a while, I really mean it. I saw him a year and a half ago for five minutes and prior to that, it was over 17 years ago. To fully appreciate this lunch, you really have to understand what my life looked like 17 years ago.

I was completely without direction. I was undisciplined and unmotivated. I was getting ready to leave Purdue (partly at my choice and partly at Purdue's). My father's dream of my being a rich engineer was lying in ashes, and I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I was battling my second bout with clinical depression, and it looked like the best I would be able to accomplish with my life . . . my dream goal . . . would be management training school at a fast food restaurant (which if that is what you love is a wonderful goal . . . let's just say, it wasn't what I loved). My first true love had just dumped me (on the phone after I moved her to an internship), and I felt as though I had no prospects and no future. Certainly, I would never reach all that "potential" that so many had told me that I had over the years.

Now, nearly two decades years later, Greg comes back into my life to discover that I am actually, "Dr. Robert Wallace." I am happily married with two wonderful children.

As I sat there reminiscing with Greg—laughing nearly to the point of tears as we remembered the good times—I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the course my life has taken. Think about those people who only knew the you from 10 or 20 years ago. What would they think now? That same guy, for whom the high point of the day was Mutant Ping Pong in the BSU basement nearly two decades ago, was representing Shorter College and having dinner at the Norwegian Embassy on last Wednesday night. It really strained belief as I thought about it.

After our great lunch, I began to think about what "Dr. Wallace" might tell that amazing Mutant Ping Pong player of 17 years ago. As I look back, I see plenty of areas which need improvement. It would be difficult to pick just a few bits of advice to give. I look back and see wasted opportunities and mistakes, and I am tempted to want to rewrite history—change the course of my life. I want to pull on those loose threads to make the tapestry of my life look neater.

But, I also remember that I like who I am now, and who I am now is connected to who I was then. If I pulled on those loose threads, I might discover that I those threads are connected to more than I bargained for.

Still, I think I would like to give Rob of 17 years ago some advice. I think I would say the same thing to that Rob that I try (and will try) to say to my children, "Have the courage to make the hard decisions. Follow the call of God no matter how crazy it seems. Savor each moment of each day because it will never come again."

Of course, if there had been a Mutant Ping Pong Professional League, I would have said to leave for the pros years ago . . .