A Life of Words

Monday was a pretty darn cool day — and I’m not talking about the weather. My UT Southwestern Medical Center colleagues and I usually work from home on Mondays, but I decided weeks ago that I wanted to go into the office on this particular one.

That’s because UTSW’s Black History Month celebration was scheduled on our South Campus, and the guest of honor was Opal Lee, the remarkable 97-year-old Fort Worth resident whose years of commitment and hard work — and a lot of walking — resulted in Juneteenth finally becoming a national holiday in 2021.

A rapt, appreciative audience applauded “The Grandmother of Juneteenth” numerous times for her storytelling, wit, honesty and humanity during a conversation with Dr. Shawna Nesbitt, Professor of Internal Medicine, Vice President and Chief Institutional Opportunity Officer at UTSW. It was one of the most enjoyable presentations I’ve ever attended.

Then on Monday night, Kay and I met a couple of longtime friends of mine at Kay’s alma mater, Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, to see the Horned Frogs take on West Virginia (the state where I was born) in a Big 12 basketball game. Both friends happen to be named John.

I’ve known John Reed, a TCU grad like Kay, since he and I were in elementary school at St. Matthew Lutheran in Houston in the mid-1960s. We became friends in first grade when I was moved up from the kindergarten class at age 5 after the first few weeks of school. I was thrilled to find John several years ago living in Fort Worth with his wife Lisa (yet another Frog), and we all try to get together when we can.

The other John joining us at Monday’s game was John Gandy, a wonderful fellow, father of two, grandfather of six, and former colleague at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Dallas Morning News whom I’ve known since I arrived at the S-T in April 1987. As I was telling John during the game, his ex-wife Linda, the paper’s Features editor at the time, was among the folks I interviewed with before getting the offer to be a copy editor/page designer in her department. John is a University of Texas grad who also roots for the Frogs … when they’re not playing his Longhorns.

The four of us had a great time at the game, which the Frogs won 81-65 to raise their season record to 17-7 (6-5 in conference). I’m a huge fan of college basketball (not an NBA fan), and although there were stretches of sloppiness, the hustle and great plays at both ends reminded me why. Go Frogs!