You Can Go Back

I had not considered the possibility Necessary Assets would be the medium to put me back in contact with so many former neighbors, friends, church members, and colleagues from the FBI. As we move through life’s journeys in our highly complex electronic society, we still don’t seem to be able to keep in contact with everyone we wish.

Bob Riley is an old class mate from Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore, Maryland. He took it upon himself to put our class back in contact with each other not just to celebrate our past but to help insure the influence of the Xaverian Brothers on young men remains strong and viable in the future. He also took it upon himself to highlight my book to the class which resulted in many great email conversations among us. It was not much different from high school when we gathered to eat our lunch sandwiches in the outside school courtyard many years ago. I was hesitant for a long while to make the effort to go back to this community, and that period of my life, but now am so glad I did.

I heard from Ron Lombard, an old Shrewsbury, Massachusetts neighbor whom I had not been in contact with for over 25 years. Ron was the first to teach me how to fly-fish the cold, springtime streams of central Massachusetts. I have loved all forms of fly fishing ever since.  It was just nice to learn we had not forgotten each other over the years.

A daughter of an old golf buddy and fellow church member, Gerry Nugent, called to get a copy of the book as a surprise birthday gift for her father. A former FBI agent whom I had not seen in many years wrote a warm and insightful review of the book on Amazon. FBI colleague Vic Reuschlein and I had not communicated in over 45 years. How great it was to find a message from him on my web site.

As a young FBI agent, I was transferred from my home area in Maryland never to reside there again. That was in later years by choice. Much about contact with family and friends I was forced to give up. I believed then in the expression “you can never go back.” You just moved on.

These are only a few examples from my recent book experience. However, I now believe you can go back. It may never be the same but it can still be a rich, warm, and a wonderful experience. You feel guilty about not having stayed in contact over the years but we all know it is impossible. What is possible is to return and pick up the conversation where it left off.