Anticipation

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"We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them, anyway
And I wonder if I'm really with you now
Or just chasing after some finer day.

"Anticipation, Anticipation
Is making me late
Is keeping me waiting."

Carly Simon

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I guess I'm dating myself by referring to this song. It was written in 1971.

But it's been on my mind today. Tomorrow, my friend Randy has triple bypass surgery, and I wish I could be there, but I'm in Dallas, and he's in St. Louis. Well, actually, he lives in a small town outside St. Louis, but I think the surgery will be taking place at a hospital in St. Louis.

So I'll be waiting to hear from his ex–wife Tammy, who has promised me that she will call as soon as he comes out of surgery.

Randy posted a message for all the folks in his life on Facebook earlier today. I guess it was a way of touching base with everyone at once. He observed that heart surgery is commonplace these days — we spoke on the phone several days ago and he told me that, because of his age, his doctors think the chance that the surgery could go badly is only about 5% — but he acknowledged the fact that there's always a risk involved with major surgery.

"Just in case I happen to be one of the unlucky few," he wrote, "I want you to know how much having you in my life has meant to me. I love you all dearly and always will."

I guess it's important to be prepared for whatever may come. But Tammy was having none of it.

In her reply on Facebook, Tammy wrote, "When you come out of the hospital and are back on your feet, I personally am gonna kick your ass for even talking this way. You will be fine. We are not doing any negative talking, do you hear me?"

Randy's son and namesake was more introspective. "I'm not looking forward to tomorrow," he wrote. "Not even close."

I know how he feels. And, ironically, today is the day he graduates from high school.

It's a time of obvious extremes and conflicting emotions for his family. They're understandably happy for and proud of Randall. But they're concerned for his father, even if, like Tammy, they want to keep those thoughts hidden.

I don't know what Randy's daughter — my goddaughter — has been thinking on this day.

But, as I was driving to church today, I heard on the radio that today is the 160th anniversary of a devastating fire that destroyed a considerable part of St. Louis. Not exactly the sort of anniversary I wanted to hear about today.

St. Louis was a busy place at that time. The discovery of gold in California had launched the famed California Gold Rush in 1848, and St. Louis was the last major city where westbound travelers could get supplies.

The St. Louis Fire of 1849 apparently began on a steamboat. The fire burned through the boat's moorings, and the blazing boat drifted down the Mississippi, spreading the fire to other steamboats, flatboats and barges. Flames spread from the vessels to buildings along the shoreline.

The fire raged for more than 11 hours. It was the first time in U.S. history that a firefighter died in the line of duty.

Things were complicated by the fact that St. Louis was experiencing a cholera epidemic at the time. About one–tenth of the city's residents died of cholera that year.

The fire's impact was mostly felt in terms of property loss. Only three lives were lost, but more than 400 buildings were destroyed, along with nearly two dozen steamboats and several flatboats and barges.

Something good did come from the fire. The city enacted a new building code that required new structures to be built from stone or brick, and the city began construction of a new water and sewage system.

One hundred and sixty years later, I was unable to find any mention of the fire on the website for the St. Louis Post–Dispatch. The "hot" news in St. Louis today seems to be the "speed traps" across the state.

I don't know why a fire that occurred more than a century and a half ago was mentioned on a radio station in Dallas, Texas, but apparently received no attention from the newspaper in the city where it happened.

But I'm going to try to follow Tammy's example and think positive thoughts tonight and tomorrow.

And I'm going to hope that, like the St. Louis Fire of 1849, something good will come from this.