Andover Alumni Now: Class of 1991
Where are we now? What are we into now? What are our lives like now? Mike Meiners catches up with our classmates in the lead-up to our 35th Reunion.
Andover Alumni Now: Class of 1991
Episode 9: Francisco Contreras - "Through spans of distance and time, here we are!"
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This episode I caught up with Francisco Contreras at his current home in Houston. I say “current home” because Fran’s life since Andover has been marked by near constant movement: from Houston to Mexico where he went to college and got married, then to grad school in Germany and Pennsylvania, then to work in Santa Barbara, San Jose, Raleigh NC, BACK to Mexico and now in Houston again, crossing cultures and languages, with four kids in tow.
Welcome to Andover Alumni Now, the class of 1991. I'm your classmate and host, Mike Miner. This episode I caught up with Francisco Contreras at his current home in Houston. I say current home because Fran's life since Andover has been marked by near constant movement. From Houston to Mexico, where he went to college and got married, then to grad school in Germany and Pennsylvania, then to work in Santa Barbara, San Jose, Raleigh, North Carolina, back to Mexico, and now in Houston again, crossing cultures and languages with four kids in tow. So your kids born in the United States, returning with you, your return to Mexico, their kind of introduction to Mexico, how did that go? How did they find Mexico and that shift and that change?
SPEAKER_03You know, I would say that we were very lucky because it was at the right time. My oldest son, uh, he had just done uh the first half of first grade. So he jumped into uh, you know, the second half of first grade in January of 2017. Um uh yes, 2017. And then the other two that followed, they uh were going to preschool. And then the little one, he hadn't even started school. So um they had a really good chance to immerse themselves in a very non-punitive way. I mean, who remembers what you did and what you achieved in first grade or second grade or third grade for that matter, right? So it was a non-issue. Um, the other thing was that, you know, for us, and this was a you know, learning that um happened to us when we were in California with our oldest. So when Mateo, our oldest son, um, was around, so we was born in February. So in the summer of, I don't know, 2012, when we were in San Jose already, um, you know, we started thinking about sending him to school for a few days, you know. Uh he was a little guy. Um and so we started going to preschool, I think two or three times a week. And when he was born, you know, my wife and I, being in the US, thought about, hey, you know, what do we do about language? Because we're in the US, you know, um, English is a common language and we want him to be fully immersed. So at the time our thought was, okay, I will speak in English because I was um, you know, I'd spend more time here in the US than my wife, although she's fully fluent, uh, bilingual. I said, I'll speak in Spanish. So we kind of, you know, did that for the first two and a half years. I was speaking English to him, she was speaking Spanish, you know, we'd be going to Mexico, it was all Spanish and so on. He started school and we quickly realized that Spanish was going out the door. He was not speaking any more Spanish. So everything, you know, that's the thing about you know, being an immigrant here in the US, it's very difficult not to be immersed in the culture. So you uh sometimes you really have to um make a you know conscientious decision to um manage that in a more constructive manner. So my son was uh listening to TV in English, his books were okay, mostly in English, he had some books in Spanish. Yeah, um his friends, you know, he spoke with them in English. Uh all of the, you know, uh let's say media, everything was in English, even though we were in California, and okay, our group of friends, they were mostly Spanish speaking, but um, you know, our friends from work, you know, they all spoke English. I worked for an international company. So after he started school, a little bit after that, maybe a couple months, you know, we switched to all Spanish at home because otherwise there would have been no more Spanish for him. You know, he would have just been completely immersed here. And we've seen that with other friends, you know, that have made the the you know the conscious decision to say, okay, we want them to be fully immersed in the local language. And then um, you know, they realize that um a couple of years later that you know their kids are struggling with their home, you know, mother language because um brains tend to be more plastic when you're younger, right? It's a lot more difficult to learn a language later. I can I can tell you from experience, um, it can be more difficult, but it can be done. You know, I went to Germany in 2005, so moved to in 2006 to Germany with my wife. But in 2005, I spent six months in Germany studying German. And let me tell you, if you spend six hours a day learning German for six months, you'll pick up German because you pick it up. You know, I mean, if that's what you're doing, yeah. Exactly. Yeah, so it is doable, but who has six months to do that, you know, in a professional setting? And I was uh very, very fortunate to be working with my father at the time. And my father having the vision to say, all right, we're working in this business together. Uh, which by the way, when I started working with him, he said to me the first day, he said, son, you're my son, I love you. But there's one boss and I'm the boss, you know. Let's get things clear, right? I mean, I'm gonna listen to your opinion, but you know, if decisions have to be made, I'll make them. Um but you know, he was uh tremendously, he has been tremendously visionary. And he said to me, you know, have you thought about you know going to graduate school? You know, we're doing a lot of business in Germany. Um I spent some time with him on vacation, uh, working with him, you know, uh joining him for some business meetings. And, you know, when you are in a business meeting and the other people are speaking a different language, it can be somewhat um, you know, you feel uh you don't feel part of that conversation, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And in a business negotiation, it's you're at a disadvantage, frankly. Absolutely. And so even though I had three semesters of German behind me from college, it wasn't enough. You know, I get by, you know, and I did get by uh, you know, just on the basics, but really um language is so full of culture and it's a doorway into another country. So so you know, I spent those uh six months around German. And so, you know, coming back uh to our kids and and that whole thing, you know, it's just for them to be able to uh partake in our local language, you know, our home language at home, just felt like an easy thing. And so moving back to Mexico, it wasn't as difficult. Um, just like it wasn't as difficult coming back, you know. Imagine five years in, uh, you know, the oldest arrived, uh seventh grade, I think it was. So we started seventh grade uh when we came back in 22. And then the others started in fifth grade, if I'm not mistaken. So it was a seamless, almost seamless transition. Granted, they were in bilingual school in Mexico, so um, yeah. So they, you know, they were um having classes in English, but it was uh uh quite um not complicated at all. It was uh easy. And you know, the the fortunate aspect of all that has been that um, you know, my kids were able to adapt very quickly, you know, making friends and um, you know, sports and all that. So that was uh that was a big burden um, you know, that um that we didn't have to surmount for sure, because that's always a you know concern. You as an adult, you get by, you know, but your kids, I mean, you want them to be successful and you know integrate themselves into um you know the uh social circles at their school and so on. You know, you don't want them to be um outside of of the normal pattern of activities, right?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And so now you live in Houston and do you anticipate being there longer? You've been here the second longest that you've stayed anywhere as a married couple, I heard you say.
SPEAKER_03Yes, correct. What's the future hold? Do you think? Oh, that's a great question. You know, I'm certainly open to that. I think it's a little bit more challenging right now with uh the ages uh my kids are in. I travel quite frequently. So, you know, my my current job requires me to travel. And so I travel about 50% of the time. So I'm fine with the travel. Um the company I work for is a fantastic company. Um, you know, they uh I manage my own schedule. Um, so that it gives me that flexibility that it hasn't been a need for me to relocate. I think, you know, I have not had that conversation recently with um, you know, with my boss about hey, you know, do I need to move to Atlanta? Because uh the headquarters for North America is in uh the Atlanta area. So I suppose that at some point, you know, I if I wanted to, I, you know, we could have that conversation, but there's been no need, you know. I mean, the the beauty post-COVID is that we all learn to work remotely.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, here we are right now on Zoom. It feels completely natural to me. I spent probably, I don't know, probably half my whole my day on Zoom.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, which is totally working. I do too. Yeah, I mean, it's it's uh a little bit sad at times because you know you don't have the person-to-person um, you know, connection. Yeah, but man, leveraging technology in the 21st century, hey, what can I tell you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, creates a lot of flexibility and you can stay in one place for a while because you can export your work digitally.
SPEAKER_03Yes. And I'm you know, I'm very lucky to be where I am because my brother lives 20 minutes away. I have a sister that lives in Plano, which is you know in the Dallas area.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03My parents, you know, they're in Mexico. Uh, my other sister lives uh very close by to them. So I could get in my car and drive there and be there, you know, in eight hours if I wanted to. We have. Uh, I could also get on a plane. And by the way, there are you know five flights, you know. I could just get on a flight and be there in an hour and 15 minutes. So it's tremendously convenient to be where I am. Then again, you know, if I was somewhere else, it would just be uh also convenient, you know, because yeah, where can you not? I mean, you live in Chicago, Chicago area, right? If I'm not mistaken, yeah. Hop on a plane and also be in Monterey in two hours, you know. So it's just you know, it's just as convenient. And and you know, that's the thing about moving away from home, as you might remember. You know, uh, once you have to get on a plane, it doesn't really matter if you're an hour, two hours, or three hours away. You still have to go to the airport and get on that plane.
SPEAKER_00That's really true. It's like you can get anywhere on earth in a day. Yeah. So it's it's amazing. It's like there's such a psychological barrier, though. You've I don't know, my mind goes to it's so far. But uh, the logic of it is that it's not. You just no plane, you sit on a plane, sit still for if you can sit still for a long time, then yes, you'll get there within about 22 to 24 hours at the maximum, and you can be anywhere in the world. It's kind of amazing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's the uh you know, that's the unfortunate downside of travel today, right? That you end up waiting so long, whether before you get on the plane or while you're waiting to get on the plane, right? And security, or after you get off the plane, to get off the plane. So yeah, we haven't quite figured that part out efficiently yet. Yeah, eventually I'm sure we will. But yeah, I mean, um, travel is a fantastic thing. You know, it it allows us to get closer and and it's a door that you know Andover opened for many of us when we were there. I mean, you think, you know, back to when we were in school, and uh I don't remember my parents having to sign anything to get me to, you know, go on a plane nowadays. You gotta have signatures and you know, adults on both sides and that type of thing. So we had it very easy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we lived in, I'm realizing more and more, a very unique time in the history of humanity. Yes. Like where the where the access to things, uh, the technology allowed so much to occur, but then there hadn't been a whole lot of restrictions placed on those things. So we kind of got in the the first iterations of these kind of available things, of being able to fly around and drive around and um go to schools in different states. I mean, that's been around since, you know, for a long, long time, but their ability to access it was so amazing. Like to walk out of to walk out of Adams and go to the bus stop and get on a bus and go into Boston and no one knew it. No one knew that happened. I was the only one who knew, you know, like that that could happen. Uh that wasn't happening before the technology really existed. And then it wasn't happening very soon after that when people decided, you know what, we should probably lock this down a little more.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, uh, I was tremendously bad at calling home, you know. I'm surprised my my parents survived, you know.
SPEAKER_00I know, me too. Me too. You were like, How often did you call home? I was like, as little as possible.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, yeah, yes. And there was a lot of trust, you know, from our parents. Um, you know, they kind of sent you off and then you were off, and then somehow you made it there. And uh they, you know, okay, maybe you you said, Hey, I made it, bye, you know, type of thing. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00I don't even know if I was very good at doing that though. You know, like they just got trust that he must be there, or we'd have heard something from a police officer somewhere.
SPEAKER_03And then uh, you know, uh you got on flight line or whatever it was, van service that you use, you know, to get to Andover, right? Yeah. Packed in with a bunch of other kids, you know, half of them you, half you didn't, and some of them you may have seen in the path, you know, to class or something. Um yeah, you know, at 8, 9 p.m., you know, calling flight line and all that. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00It was a really unique time.
SPEAKER_03And and you know, the I I think that's a challenge of you know, some of what we face today as parents, you know, um allowing our kids to learn that level of resilience and independence, you know, because technology does not let us do that very easily. And maybe we don't, maybe it's better that that uh in some instances where you know that doesn't happen, right?
SPEAKER_00I'm having to catch up to my kids' lack of desire for independence. Like I it surprised the hell out of me because all my wife and I and everyone I knew wanted when we were their age was to get our parents out of our hair, to just have our freedom and our for our parents to leave us alone. In my world, it felt universal. I'm sure it wasn't. I'm sure there was a diversity of approaches to that, but that at least around my world, everybody just wanted freedom. And so, as a father, wanting to be supportive and helpful to my kids, made the assumption that turned out to not really be correct, that these guys will just want me out of their hair and to do everything I can to give them the opportunity to be uh independent and resilient. And I think Maggie and I did a good job of that. And at the same time, fascinated by like my son will call me uh and I won't be able to pick up for some reason. And then I won't call him back. I'll you know, maybe I'll get back to him the next day, but he'll call me the next day and be like, oh, you're a hard guy to get a hold of. What do you mean? Like, he's bummed out that I didn't call him back, and that never would have I never would have been bummed out that my parents didn't call me back. But I love it, I think it's beautiful, it's wonderful. I want to support it, but and so I'm not really complaining, but I'm just fascinated.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you know, it's interesting you mentioned that because I remember talking with my wife um some years ago, you know, Facebook had not been out too long then. And then we saw a message from friends of ours. He was, it was a couple. I think she was telling him that dinner was ready on Facebook, like, hey, come down for dinner, you know. And so clearly they were pushing the boundaries of you know what Facebook was for at the time. Um, but we had a recent instance where one of our kids texted my wife about something. I mean, and my wife's like, hey, come downstairs. I'm here. You know, you don't have to text me for that. You know, we're in the we live under the same roof, we're physically here present, you know? And so um, you know, finding the boundaries of um, I don't want to say good use, but efficient use of technology, I think is a challenge that we all face nowadays, you know, at what point um, you know, do you leverage that um to the best use? You know, um I work, like I said, I worked for a minerals company on the operation side. We have people working um, you know, 24-7 at some sites. My phone's always on, you know, I'm not ever, just about ever disconnected. Um, I don't, you know, knock on wood, I typically do not get calls in the middle of the night. I have I have been called, um, but typically don't, you know, and so I, you know, I when talking about you know digital usage with my kids, you know, some of the conversations that I'm sure many parents have had is, you know, why do you need your phone at night, you know, after a certain time. Why is there a need for you to have a phone? You know, if you don't, you know, or you know, why do you need to respond immediately? You know, what is the urgency of your response? Because I work in a in an industry where people are working, you know, constantly, and even I take sometimes time to respond because I need time to think through what I'm going to respond. So is it, you know, what is urgent? What does that mean today, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03In the day of instant communication, does it mean that if I get an instant message and I instantly have to respond? Is that the expectation? You know, you know what?
SPEAKER_00That's a really fascinating. I've had a fascinating experience with that with my own kids. Um Maggie and I wanted to raise our kids like it was the mid-80s. And we just couldn't do it, is what turned out. You know, you know, spoiler alert, we failed. Um and but we wanted to, and the the reason we failed was like what you were talking about with um English language with your kids. We could only do so much, but they were spending time out in the world. And their access us once they went to elementary school, you know, our influence on them in terms of time spent was almost cut in half, you know, maybe even worse um in favor of being out in the world rather than being under our direct influence. And the technology being what it is, uh, we tried to go a long time without our kids having phones. But then everybody else in the neighborhood has phones. And it's not about it keeping up with the Joneses, it's about uh the actually the flow of social interaction ceased to happen face to face for everyone in their world. And so you're like, just be face to face, and they're like, I'd love to, but nobody does it. So it's literally gonna be me alone, or I could have a phone and have friends. And it they've kind of presented that to us that way. I was like, oh my God, it's just true. And um in uh I think this was this would have been pre-COVID, but the game Fortnite came out.
SPEAKER_01Oh yes.
SPEAKER_00And and my kids were in, I wanted fifth and sixth grade when when Fortnite came out. And our little town that we live in was pretty good about people going out in the world, like riding bikes, getting little packs of kids running around the neighborhood. So we felt pretty good about that. Um, but even though even so they're carrying phones and all that stuff, but they were out at least out doing stuff. But then when Fortnite came out, it stopped. Nobody went outside anymore because they were all playing the game. And so my son begged us to get the game and we just kept saying no. Really just go play, just go outside and go play. And it was literally that same thing. It's like, um, playing outside has ceased to exist in everyone with everyone I know. So either I can have Fortnite and have friends, or I can have no friends and no Fortnite. I remember that. We had to bite the bullet.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we uh we went through that um at some point when we were in Mexico, the whole Fortnite discussion with the oldest. And you know, we had to we caved in at some point, you know. I don't remember the specific moment. Um, but it was a this it was a conversation topic because it was frequent. I want to play Fortnite. I want my friends are playing Fortnite, I want to play and you know, uh my my oldest, uh there's a year and a half, almost a year and a half difference between him and the two that follow. So we had to set some rules that were almost set in stone with the oldest, because the other two, well, you know, he played at that age, so I'm entitled to play at that same age as well, you know. Like, yeah, I mean, because it's a democracy, right? He can do it, I can do it. Exactly. Yeah, you know, like it's an equal rights, right? There's equality here in this family, and there is, of course. You know, you don't want to uh certainly have different uh levels of uh uh entitlement, you know, because that's what it is with uh with your children. Um, but yeah, we set a masses like okay, when you I don't remember, when you get to 12. Years old, you can play Fortnite. You know, in the meantime, you thou shalt not, you know, exactly. And thou shalt not have a phone until then. I think it was 12, also. Um, maybe it was the beginning of sixth grade, I think, when you know, phones became more prevalent. Like, okay, we could see you needing a phone. Well, needing is not the right word. We could see where a phone, you know, would fulfill certain expectations, perhaps socially, and also from a safety perspective, where hey, you are now going to meet with your friends, you know, somewhere else where maybe you need to have a phone for safety, um, you know, and everybody else, uh, you know, you ended up to a certain extent caving in socially, as you mentioned. You know, you don't want your kids to be outcasts, right? Oh, well, they're the only ones who don't. And let me tell you that it does happen. We we do have um, you know, there are those, and there's nothing wrong with that. You know, it's not a judgment on good, bad, better, or worse. It's what you know, what you think is right for your family and your own kids. And the unfortunate aspect for our generation, Mike, is that we are the guinea pigs. We are experimenting, we are the ones who are learning the limits. I mean, yep. My, you know, I remember uh when my youngest, you know, was born and the other two that followed, you know, it wasn't too long after that, uh, maybe two and a half, three, three for sure, that you know, we purchased the first iPad. And I think first we had an iPod, you know, and it wasn't like free for all, right? It was you know measured time, but yes, but we had it, you know, and we tried to use it as um, you know, to feed it, you know, use it as little as possible or when needed. We weren't carrying around everywhere, but yeah, it was used, you know. Yes, how much was enough? I don't know, you know, right? I guess we'll know in like 30 or 40 years.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. So like we'll see what damage we've done, uh did our best, and um in a really challenging environment. It's just really interesting. I mean, it like I'm saying, the if the environment had been different, uh our use of these technologies would have been very, very different. But the cultural forces around them are as much a part of why people use these things. Well, I can't say people, why we use them.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um as as anything.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we we didn't have a yeah, we didn't really have have to make those choices. You know, they um I think, you know, at least in my uh professional career, you know, they were more organically introduced through work, you know. Um, I mean, I remember, you know, when I graduated in 2000, sorry, in 96, December of 96, I started working for a company. You know, I had a pager. Yeah, it was just the expectation. So you learned to work with a pager and then you know, continue having a pager, and then eventually, you know, um, I actually did not have a work cell phone until I started working with my father, you know, it just um a little bit after 2003, 2004. But you know, you become accustomed to using the technology, you know, whether it's a computer, laptop, whatever, you know, um, and our kids were introduced to all that at a much, much younger age.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_03So it's uh it's a different focus, and um yeah, and it can be daunting, you know, uh for I think especially even for some people our age, but especially for people older than us, like our parents, you know, or um, you know, those generations that did not grow up with as much affinity and um you know, as much um easiness of adoption as we did with technology because we went through that, you know, that whole change with computers and so on. I mean, you know, I I don't know if if if uh you remember, but well, you might not, but in my case, I was just thinking reflexively. But in my case, you know, I didn't have a la computer when I arrived at Andover, but I had one my lower year, you know, you're similar, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I got one, I think my first computer sometime during Andover, about right from get-go.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I had a computer at home, you know, Commodore 64, but but we weren't gonna lug that huge monitor, you know, and uh, you know, from Houston to Andover uh at the time. Yeah. Um, so we grew up with some of that for sure. And uh, but it I think a different level of interaction. You know, we weren't there wasn't that that much to do with a computer than maybe write some.
SPEAKER_00No, it was a typewriter, and that was what it was for me.
SPEAKER_03An enhanced typewriter, right? Where you could store. You didn't have you didn't you, you know, well, you had to save, otherwise you could lose everything, right? Yeah. No, it's good. Yeah. So it's a little bit different, uh, you know, for our generation and for our kids, and um we're learning along the way.
SPEAKER_00I I have the faith that this generation, our kids' generation, is going to uh improve the culture around it. That like you said, we're the guinea pigs. We were, you know, it was foisted on us kind of like, whoa, um to the point where you know, we didn't kind of fighting a losing battle because it's just it's just too much advancement too quickly, and who could ever know exactly the best way to deal with it? It kind of has to be arrived at through trial and error. But but my kids at 23 and 22 are annoyed about how prevalent phones are and technology are in mitigating social interaction. They talk about it all the time. They don't think this is stupid, this is bad, we don't like it. Um my older son has said, like, if I'm gonna do everything I can to keep phones out of my own kid's hands. I mean, he doesn't have he's nowhere near having a kid, but when he thinks about it, it's like the fact that he has that point of view um gives me some hope that that the culture around the use of this technology is going to improve from their influence, that they'll, you know, start to make different choices about it or more thoughtful choices based on their native understanding of the technology that we didn't have.
SPEAKER_03Right. And it's um, you know, it continues to be a challenge to strike the right balance between personal interaction and the use of technology, right? Um, because it it seems like a hurdle now to have a personal social interaction, but it isn't. It's so easy, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, you know, it there's a a level of anonymity when you use the device that you don't have when you actually have to talk to a person. Absolutely. Right. Um, I mean, I see it at work. You know, we have, I was on the, you know, on the phone all day today or you know, on conference calls. Um, you know, I would say that not all the time everyone turns on their camera because there's comfort in not turning on your camera. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03I mean, besides the obvious one of, you know, not having to, you know, dress up for the camera and all that, right? Um, you know, or uh the self-conscious aspect of it, which by the way exists anyway in real life interactions, sure, right? We just take it, we just don't worry about it as much. Um, but I do think that that's prevalent, you know, and so um preferring, you know, prioritizing the face-to-face engagement, you know, is important. And and uh, you know, um there certainly are elements that you know individually we can control, you know, such as trying to devote 100% of the attention to the person you're with instead of you know looking at your phone. Or uh, but there are other instances where it's even dangerous, like driving, you know, and I see it all the time. You know, people phone, I've seen people, you know, space timing while they're driving, which is quite dangerous, can be quite dangerous. You know, maybe there's a narc. I haven't mastered that skill. I I'm uh just not good at multitasking, so I'm horrendously bad at that stuff. I really have to, you know, I I just no uh recipe for disaster. That would be a bad idea if I did that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no, no. And uh, you know, I mean, even, you know, again, coming back to the personal interaction, you know, um, if I'm reading or something and my wife's talking to me, I really just have to stop. And, you know, 100%. My my brain was just not geared. Uh, and maybe kids nowadays are, you know, between all the because that's the other thing, you know, all the interactions, all the everything that's happening, all the signals and um the media, you know, the messaging that is existing is daunting. There's a a lot of um, you know, there's just broadcasting all sorts of uh information, data, prompt for their attention that uh, you know, even for us, right? I mean, uh you have to stop and really devote time. It's refreshing when you actually can sit down and just have a drink, cup of coffee, glass of water with another person and have a conversation.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I try to do it as often as I can.
SPEAKER_03Oh, I agree. It's lot it's fantastic.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's the best. Do you get the opportunity to do that uh as much as you'd like?
SPEAKER_03I think so. You know, um I'm somewhat spoiled, I would say, because from a family perspective, you know, I've been fortunate enough to um see my family fairly often. I just saw my brother last night and you know, my um my sister-in-law, you know, with their uh with their uh kid, and we had dinner with them. Um I traveled last week to one of our sites and um I had dinner with a you know colleague. We we drove, you know, so I we got to chat in the car, which is always great, you know. Uh I treasure those social interactions much more in person.
SPEAKER_00Me too.
SPEAKER_03Uh they're much more uns, you know, they're unscripted, they're spontaneous. Yep. Uh there's a joy in letting conversation flow, you know. I mean, I'm made the more richer, you know, by my friends, you know, um, you know, friends like you, even at a distance, you know, catching up after um, you know, many years. But um, yeah, I mean, God, you know, through spans of distance and time, here we are, right? It's amazing.
SPEAKER_00Great catching up, buddy.
SPEAKER_03Likewise, I look forward to seeing you in June.
SPEAKER_00Me too.
SPEAKER_03We'll see you soon. Absolutely. Thanks a lot, Mike. Thanks for coming. Great talking to you. Take care.
SPEAKER_00Alumni and loved ones, join us June 5th through 7th for our 35th reunion. We'll see you on campus.