by Midnight Freemason Contributor
Bro. Brian Schimian
The days leading up to February 9th, 2015 were filled with mixed
emotions, but mostly dread for what lay ahead. My time in So. Cal. had
drawn to an end and I was going to have to head back to IL. I left
Chicago’s Midway airport on November 18th, 2014 at 1355 hours,(1:55 PM)
bound for Denver and then on to L.A. with the plan to return on December
9th. I never made that flight back. For the better part of three months I
was living a dream with my Lady, her adorable kids and some additions
to my circle of “friends” that are better considered family to me. The
time was beyond epic; two and a half days of wine tasting on the coast,
dinner every other Friday night with Cheri & Gabe, dinners with Bro.
RPL and Natalie and their wonderful kids, invitations to Lodge’s for
Degree work, DeMolay Chapter meetings, two days at Disney, Birthdays,
Universal’s City Walk, lunch almost every day with my Lady and too much
more to try and list.
Although I was traveling
home, it felt like I was more so “leaving” home. Besides all the people
that I met, great food and places to visit, I was having to leave my
Lady and her kids. It was like cutting out part of my heart and leaving
it behind. A painful end to the “tease” of what my future would
hopefully hold. My plans for the journey home changed from taking a
direct route along I-80 thanks to a low pressure system that moved in
the days before I had to start back. Oh yeah, while I was in So. Cal,.
I purchased a vehicle so I had wheels to get around. My route home was
going to be taking a much more southern route to avoid the higher
elevations and highway closures from the potential snow fall. As I
packed my vehicle and got ready for the trip, I made sure to put a legal
pad and pen on the passenger seat so that I could keep a journal of my
exploits on the way home. The Hindenburg had a better experience landing than I had filling the pages of my legal pad. Looking
at the pages now, all I had filled in were seven lines. The margin has twelve lines filled in where I tracked my fuel stops.
As
I planned and announced my plans to return, I received requests to meet
up with some old friends, co-workers and Brothers. After saying
goodbye to my Lady and the kids, I pulled out of the driveway just
behind them. She was on her way to drop the kids off at daycare before
work and I was heading East. I hit the highways and made it thru Cali.,
Arizona, New Mexico and got to the other side of El Paso, Texas before I
had to stop for a little bit of a rest. As I would lose radio reception, I clicked through episodes of the WCY and The Winding Stairs
podcasts, hoping to spur something to write about. It never happened. I
did however appreciate the familiar voices of Brothers RJ & Juan.
The last time I had gone through marathon of episodes, and the first time
I listened to Juan (a week after he started The Winding Stairs) was
when I was sitting in a Florida hospital the night before my father
passed. It was then that I passed the exit for 29 Palms, the place my
Pops went for the USMC Boot Camp after enlisting for WWII. To say that
my trip had begun on a sad emotional note would be an understatement,
and nothing seemed to be taking me in a happier direction, mentally or
geographically.
I kept looking for a sign for a
topic, but nothing came to mind. Just nothingness. As I continued
down the road, I drove through the town of Liberty Hill Texas. I passed
a rather large structure that had few windows and a large fence around
it. The first thing that came to my mind was how I must be passing some
sort of prison or institutional facility. It turns out I was spot on,
only the sign outside said, “Liberty Hill High School Home of the
Panthers”. Like I said, spot on, at least with the way I felt about my
time in High School. About the only thing during my entire time in the
car on the drive home that remotely hit me with a Masonic tone was a
line in a song, “…the devil is in the house of the rising sun…”
As
chance would have it, a young lady that I was on the Fire Department with
had recently relocated
to the Austin, Texas area and she was going to be
free all day so we made plans to meet up for lunch on Tuesday. It
certainly was great to see my “little sister” again, if only for a few
hours. She is an amazing woman and very strong. It was a pleasure to
spend time getting caught up and talking about life, where we have been
and what we hope for in our futures. From there I was headed North to
the greater Dallas area. Upon hearing of my plans to travel north, I
received word from a few Brothers that I would be stopping in town to
meet up, regardless of timing. I took some time to drive around Dallas
and see some sights on my way. I even dropped by the Cowboys Stadium in
Arlington,TX and sent a photo of it off to some people I know that (for
some ungodly reason) are Cowboys fans. As ridiculously confusing as the
area highways are, I found my way to the Holy Grail Pub. Such a
fitting name for the conversations and Brotherhood that was had with
Bro.’s Hosler & Berryman. I think the three of us could have sat there
all night and probably the next few days just talking. Another prime
example of “earning a Master’s Wage”. Even though Bro. Hosler & I
are writers here at The Midnight Freemasons, we had yet to meet in
person. Like Bro. Franklin said: “…He who seeks to draw wages in gold
or silver will be disappointed. The wages of a Mason are earned and
paid in their dealings with one another…” Regardless of where I
considered my home to be, I was far from it, yet I felt warm in my heart
as I sat with these Brethren and the discussions rolled on into the
evening.
As it had to be, the theme of this
journey being “all good things must come to an end”, eventually they had
to return home to their significant others and I had to head North to
meet up with another Brother in Des Moines, Iowa. We paid our tabs,
said our goodbyes and parted ways. Again adding to the list of those I
consider to be my family. Luckily it was dark by then and I was spared
the boring scenery of the plains as I made my way to Iowa. Reaching
Des Moines, I was able to meet with a good friend Bro. Buman. We have a
lot in common and have some great conversations about the Craft and life over the past year or so. We had a great afternoon as he took me
around the area and showed me the Masonic sights. I got to check out
his Blue Lodge, the Za-Ga-Zig Shrine and we even got an extra special
tour of the AASR Valley. Talk about having things to research, LOL.
Ryan truly is my Brother from another mother. I am happy to have met
him and his family after he read an article I wrote and he reached out
to get into contact with me. We give each other a hard time about many
things, but it is all in jest and we are as close as any Brothers could
be. I always look forward to our conversations, regardless of what time
of day it is. I even talked him into writing and submitting articles
for The Midnight Freemasons. Hopefully by the time this article is
published, so will some of his work. He is as inspiring as he is
interesting, for a Clown anyway. Sorry, Bro., had too.
A
few hours later I was at the end of the last 6 hour leg of my journey.
I pulled down the driveway and parked my truck in front of my house.
It was a bittersweet moment for many reasons. It hurt to leave, but I
had labors to complete in IL if my Lady and her kids were to have a
suitable home should they return. The reason I had to make this journey
over halfway across the Country left me heavy in my heart with a numb
mind. But along the way I was lifted up and my heart filled in ways
that only “family” can do. After taking a weekend to be with my
“Family” here in IL, I am making great progress in a short time on the
house and I continue to travel in accordance with the terms of my
Masonic Obligations.
I have already written
about some of the exploits since being back and I feel like I am just
getting started. I have finally gotten in touch with a Masonic
Motorcycle Organization that I was looking in to before I left for Cali.
and I am one Club vote away from being a full member of a great group
of guys that understand what “Brother” really means. I already have one
speaking engagement on the books for 2016 in PA (a big Thank You to
Bro. Brian Evichin). I will be one of 12 (or more) speakers over a 2
day “Weekend of Light” and I could not be more excited and humbled by
the list of other presenters that will be there, I think currently there
are five of the thirteen writers from The Midnight Freemasons that will be
presenting. My hope is to add several presentations across the Country
between now and then. This year has started out on bit of an emotional
and geographic roller coaster for me. Luckily I have deep running roots
in Masonry that ground me and lead me. Stay tuned, it should get
interesting, to say the least.
~BJS
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