In the Bosom of Wooglin

Written on airplane on way from NC to UT and lunch with my Beta Brothers

June 2018

We were young, once (or, as my dad used to say, “still wet behind the ears”). Some of us were from small towns in California. Some of us were from the towns in Utah small and large (and Hogpen’rs and East High big-shots were among the mix).  Many of us were athletes, some of us were scholars – a few of us were both.

Some of us came from humble beginnings, some from wealth. Some of us were a little awkward, others more self-assured. None of us were really sure how our lives would evolve, but we all came to the University of Utah to start the journey that would define our future, our accomplishments and our heritage.

What set us apart was not nearly so important as that which brought us together. WE JOINED BETA!  We went through GOAT week supporting each other and ended it with the beginning of that special Beta bond; we met in weekly chapter meetings sharing private thoughts and getting to know each other; we went to many parties, where we found out that those of us who did not drink were just as fun to be with as those who did, and it built us; and we helped each other get through hard math and physics courses, and through difficult romantic breakups.

Some of us lived in the Beta House and some of us were roommates. Some of us were blessed on Sunday mornings to hear Michael Mattsson play classical music on our grand piano. But on many nights after we took our dates home, even those who did not live at the house came back to sit on the couches and floor in the living room in the dark, and look west through that marvelous bay window at the lights of the city and the stars in the sky, and we talked about the meaning of life, and about our loves (and lost loves), and we secured that bond in ways that no one outside our fraternity can fully understand.

That bond has lasted now for more than 60 years. We have kept in touch – some even became business partners. We’ve skied together at Snow Bird and Deer Valley, we’ve shared Christmas parties together in Park City, and we’ve given support and love to those of us who lost a parent, or an unborn child, or a loving wife lost way too early to cancer, or a brother with Alzheimer’s who died a slow death. And we’ve given support and understanding to those whose health is now declining, and all of that has made the Beta bond grow even stronger.

Now we are all in that phase of our lives where time is clearly finite. It is a sobering realization! But I know that our bond will last until we pass this life and rejoin our families and, I am very sure, each other – where we will continue for an eternity in Wooglin’s embrace.

-kai-

Ernie Knowles

Utah ’60

Gamma Beta Chapter, #957