I Think Of You Often

Marlene Ostrow and Me

When I first got out of college my Dad was doing advertising for MCI.  Phone companies were doing everything possible to get people to make more long distance calls.  One memorable ad was a split screen of two old ladies talking on the phone to each other.  One said to the other, “I thought you died.”  Obviously, she had not called in a long time.  The other replied, “I think of  you often.”  As a twenty-something I could not imagine going so long without communicating with my good friends.

Last night I had the pleasure of getting together with my big sister from my college sorority, Marlene Bodene Ostrow whom I had not seen in over thirty years.  We went years without communicating and if it weren’t for Facebook I might still be wondering if she were alive.

But like those two old ladies in the phone ad who rediscovered each other after so many years, Marlene and I picked up right where we left off.  Learning about the lost years we quickly discovered that we were now both card carrying Mah Jongg players and had the new Mah Jongg cards on us to prove it.  I am thankful that I did not play Mah Jongg in college because it might have caused me to fail out, especially if friends like Marlene would play with me.  I can imagine us now yakking late into the night as we built the wall and discarded four dots and green dragons.

Our friendship that started out as Pi Beta Phi sisters merely took a little break and was easily rekindled once we saw each other.  Like the old lady in the ad, I had thought about Marlene often, even though she did not know it and we did not talk.

This is my week of reunions.  Friday I go to my 30^th college reunion.  Seeing old friends I keep in close contact with is always fun, but the part about these big reunions I find the most interesting is the conversations I have with people I did not necessarily keep in contact with or even know well.  At my last reunion a man who was an acquaintance told me about some small kindness I did for him at a vulnerable time in his college life and how much it helped him and he never forgot it.  I had no recollection of the incident, nor idea that I had helped him.  If it weren’t for the reunion I doubt I ever would.  It meant so much to me to hear about it all these years later.

I met another classmate who had devoted her life to feeding the hungry and although we never really knew each other during school I had a fabulous conversation with her learning about her life’s work.  Her story inspired me, but I have not told her since that last reunion.

With the joy of reconnecting with Marlene fresh in my memory I am going to go off on Friday with the commitment to tell people what they meant to me and how they might have affected my life.  I wish I had been better about doing this at my 25^th reunion because one wonderful friend, Danny Allanoff will be missing at this year’s reunion.  Danny passed away earlier this year and he was a kind, funny and generous friend.  His smiling face is going to be missed by us all.  I don’t want to go another year without letting people know I cherish them.