5,300 miles to C'ville - John Hays III sends greetings

For the past 29 years I have lived in Hawaii, at 5300 miles, the closest I have ever lived to Crawfordsville (before that I lived in Buenos Aires).  I attended our 25th reunion, which was my uncle Bill's (Will H  Hays, Jr) 50th, and vowed I would make it to our 50th.  I  planned and made several visits  but the 25th was to be my only reunion.  Uncle Bill died in 2000 and was unable to attend my 60th birthday bash here.  

I visited Aunt Virginia and cousin Kathy Hays Fox later that year, and we have remained close.  In october 2008, I attended my 50th high school reunion in Sullivan, IN, and made plans well in advance to have lunch with Aunt Virginia and tour the campus with her.  She passed away a few days before I got there, and I spent some quality time with Kathy and John Fox helping to clean up the house, which Bill and Ginny donated to Wabash.  I went to Bloomington and spent some time with cousin Bill (Will H. Hays, III), and I planned for a long time to attend our Big Bash.  A medical incident caused me to miss it, and I was devastated.  My doctors would not let me leave the Islands.

 

One good thing is that having rowed on the varsity crew at Edinburgh University (my junior year at Wabash) and in a single and an eight at Harvard, I have been rowing for 52 years.  Except for my largely blind eyes, I am in fairly good shape.  I don't row singles any more (I would run into the bridges), but I was pleased to qualify and row in the Head of the Charles in 1998.  Attached is a picture of that race and another taken on a business trip to Brazil last year.  I like the blog very much and will make an effort to review it frequently.

 

Thanks again.

 

Aloha,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John T. Hays, III