By: Eddie Dziura
Eyes swelled up with tears
of joy, laughter filled the air, yells and screams of suprise and delight
to the sounds of tropical music, back pats, and hugs. Young
and old alike sat or stood side by side, eating and drinking together,
sharing stories, sharing ourselves and remembering with love those who
have passed on before us.
If you did not know the
person next you, it was likely that they knew you, or your mother or father
or sister or brother and they remembered that day or night you were hoping
was long forgotten about. Well it wasn't and tonight it was OK.
The reunion celebration was precisely that. A union. Re-affirmed.
A celebration.
A reunion celebration
where social status was irrelevant. Time and current status had no effect
on the spirit of the lifelong bonds agreed upon in the hearts of those
of us there. Multimillionaires recalling escapades with fishermen,
carpenters laughing with grandmothers while over 100 children inherently
detected an equilibrium that everything was as it should be in the universe
and behaved with minimal if any adult supervision.
A role model party.
A family where everyone got along and could not wait to greet each other
with genuine enthusiasm. All were welcome and you knew it.
To say it was great would
be to understate and to ignore the common bond and respect that brought
us all here for this celebration yet the word 'great' will have to do.
We are the Key Rats and
our love for the island of Key Biscayne and for each other never dwindled
across the years and the miles. We are the family that none of us
had but all of us shared and this unspoken realization seemed to simultaneously
enlighten us all as the evening passed. Tonight, Key Rats seemed
to discover what we always sort of knew. Key Rats are decent people
of integrity and love.
Yes there was good food,
good music, and the weather was just fine thank you yet the spotlight tonight
was on each of us, none of us, and all of us. We all had our day.
Together.
Hours passed in minutes,
hello hugs became goodbye kisses and a promise to stay in touch.
This reunion can never be
matched or duplicated and we all knew it as it played out and were grateful
to be a part.
Not a complaint was heard
however it must be noted (for the permanent record) the atmosphere was
temporarily disrupted by the sound of a Rat who miscalculated his beverage
intake and hit the deck with an oh that had to hurt thud.
Subject matter ranged from
the Key Hole to the Black Hole with talk of trains around Crandon Park
Zoo and forts built in the middle of nowhere. Dine and Dash college
stories flew here and there, fish tales, wives tales, and tales of tail
(if you catch my drift) were all fair game and shared with good cheer.
Feelings weren't hurt, egos
not deflated, and we shared the common stage.
For one night that went
into the next morning.
And it was great.
Eddie Dziura is a staff writer
for key-biscayne.com and is available for fishing and diving Monday - Saturday
Call 305 986 4882 for further
information or email eddie@key-biscayne.com.
| Key Rat Reunion Photo
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