James Eichenlaub

As I am sorry to hear of Lee's death, I am equally sorry that I never contacted him to thank him for his kindness during those last few years of school. 

Lee's father, Ted, was somehow instrumental in helping my mother purchase her first and only house. For some reason (or so I assumed), his father afterward asked Lee to befriend me, which he did. However, it wasn't until many years later that I realized his attempts to encourage me toward education and improving myself. Unfortunately, friendship is a two-way street, and I'm afraid that I did little to reciprocate.  

So I guess this is a posthumous "thank you" to Lee for his efforts, and for being kind enough to speak to me in the hall, for never making fun of or harassing me as others had, and for the time he invited me to dinner with his family, all of which I have never forgotten.

So, to Lee — adieu, old friend! We were never buddies, but your kindness impacted my life, for which I am ever grateful.  

Posted on: Jul 08, 2019 at 10:50 AM

Having lived through Don McLean's, American Pie, we are a generation the likes of which will never be seen again, as they say. Our school years were, without doubt, our 'formative' years, and for myself...as one who does NOT recall those year with fondness, I say to all those who belittled, punched, slapped, ignored, laughed at, and ridiculed me: I thank you!

To those few whom I do fondly remember (Randy, Ralph, and Will) I say thank you as well, you made those last few year tolerable enough, and there were so many others I knew only in passing; those to whom I was just another kid in school and who generally ignored me; I thank you for not being unkind.

A special thanks to Ted P., who tried to bring me up in stature and style but was unable to rescue me from my darkness. To Fred C., who was a giant among students and who often kept the bullies off of me, and to Amy D. (with whom I had a torrid love affair, but she never knew about it because we never spoke to one another), and to whom I looked forward to passing in the hall and would walk as near to her as I possibly could, and scurried away when she looked in my direction.

We can attribute our successes and failures, to some degree, on those years we spent together. To some, the happiest years of their lives, to others, just a passing mirage of friendships where hearts and minds connected with one another to form this succession of timeless acquaintances. To some few of us, however; it was a time when we were convinced that we lived outside the norm and standard; the small, the inept, the presumed indolent whose lives sprung from poverty and lacked erudition.

Finally, to Mr. Butler who, during orientation, convinced me that high school was not for me when he said, “Eichenlaub…another dropout like the rest of your lazy family,” setting the tone with which I would attend to the next few years of my ‘learning’. But, as it turns out, those words echoed in my mind through all these years and actually became a proponent of my success. Thank you Mr. Butler.