Same Photo Every Five Years

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1982: Like all good friendships, there’s a photo that takes five high school buddies – John Wardlaw, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney, John Molony, and John Dickson – back to a different time. For these five, it was just a year after their graduation from high school. They were 19 and vacationing at Copco Lake in northern California. The photo, taken with a self-timer, became was the starting point. (Courtesy of John Wardlaw)



1987: Every five years, they agreed, they would return to the same place. They’d sit on the same bench with the same mountains in the background. And, they’d sit in the same order, Wardlaw on the far left, Dickson on the far right, and Rumer, Burney, and Molony in the middle. Molony always holds a jar in his right hand. Rumer has a hat of some sort on his right knee. They all wear serious expressions. (Courtesy of John Wardlaw)



1992: And, every five years, there are subtle changes. Their hair and clothes reflect a change in fashion trends and, perhaps, a change in age. They’re all in T-shirts now. “It was cold and cloudy. From that point on, we didn’t have tans like we did early on,” Dickson told the Santa Barbara News-Press. “And,” Wardlaw added, “we were flabby.” (Courtesy of John Wardlaw)



1997: Since that first photo together, the men have gone their own ways. Dickson is a restaurant columnist. Wardlaw is into photography and film. Burney is a teacher. Molony works for UPS and lives in New Orleans. Rumer is retired and lives in Oregon. The Daily Mail reports that none of them have children. (Courtesy of John Wardlaw)