John Carson:
CLASS OF 1974
Linden High SchoolClass of 1974
Linden, CA
California State University - Stanislaus CampusClass of 1998
Turlock, CA
San Joaquin Delta CollegeClass of 1977
Stockton, CA
Linden Elementary SchoolClass of 1970
Linden, CA
John's Story
In our freshman year we had to write a biography. I am not going to do it again.
So listen: My most vivid memory from high school is of a girl in my 1971-72 Spanish class. (I do recall her name, but it would be intrusive, I think, to mention it here.) Although I haven't seen her in over 30 years, her image remains crystal clear to me. She was quiet, yet intense, with long, wavy brown hair; high, elegant cheekbones; a glowing, ivory complexion -- and the most beautiful baby blue eyes I have ever seen.
The memory is bittersweet: My greatest regret is that I never had the nerve to talk to her. My fondest recollection is that once she said my name out loud.
jc
P.S. After I wrote the above, back in 2003, I connected with the beautiful blue-eyed girl from Spanish class. (Through Classmates, of course.) She only remembered me vaguely, but we began corresponding and got to know each other -- finally. And there was something in us that clicked right away, like we had known each other all along. Falling in love with her was the greatest experience of my life. We've been dating for almost 3 years, even though we live 250 miles apart. We'll change that soon, though, and we are planning a life together.
I still won't reveal her name. But she was Class of '75, a cheerleader, a homecoming princess. And those gorgeous baby blue eyes. I...Expand for more
f you went to Linden during that time, you know who I'm talking about.
School
I am moved by fancies that curl
Around these images, and cling:
The notion of some infinitely gentle
Infinitely suffering thing.
--T.S. Eliot
College
I wrote my senior thesis on "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot. Literary authorities declare that the poem is about the degeneration of European society resulting from industrialization and the carnage of World War I.
In my thesis, I conformed to the official view. I cited the appropriate critics and pointed out the images of death and decay that work to create a mood of hopelessness and isolation. My interpretation was scholarly, literally valid, and logically consistent.
It was also dead wrong. Unfortunately, getting an education sometimes entails saying what we think the educators want us to say.
Listen:
"You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;
"They called me the hyacinth girl."
--Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing.
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.
Eliot is not speaking of decay, but rebirth. Not sterility, but the infinite possibilities of life. Not isolation, but the ceaseless quest for love.
The wind so wild
Blows homeward now
My Irish child
Where waitest thou?
Register for Free to view all details!
Reunions
John was invited to the
745 invitees
Photos
