A Carpe Diem Moment: My Name on a Plaque at North Central High School, Indianapolis, Indiana

I got into a fun exchange with my sister, on the way home from work the other day. Out of nowhere, she just sends me this photo of a plaque. And it’s got my name on it!

Apparently, I won some award back in 1992 – the Arion Foundation Award for Outstanding Musical Achievement? And it’s posted somewhere in my old high school: North Central High School, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

I learned that Stacey showed Jahnu my name, and he was blown away. And after the performance, she got to show my name to Jasmine as well.

I felt pretty cool about the whole situation (though I really don’t remember anything about this at all). Weird that my name is on a thing somewhere, in a display, in my high school.

After reflecting on this whole incident, I started to think about my mortality. My birthday is fast approaching (two days from today), and I’m going to be 44. And so of course, this whole “name in a display case” thing made me think of the Carpe Diem scene from Dead Poets Society:

Oh, and in his classic speech Robin Williams says “the world is their oyster,” too. Fantastic.

I joked with Liz that I dislike birthdays, because it just peppers the world with reminders of death and mortality everywhere. The impending day seems to highlight these little moments.

Related:
An Unexpected Reversal of Fortune
An Eye Exam Leads Me to Acknowledge the Slow March of Time, Bemoan the Frailty of the Body, and Grapple with My Own Mortality
Disturbing Reminders of Mortality, On the Way to Work
Age, by Kay Ryan

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