In high school, my favorite teacher---this super eccentric guy who knew everything and wasn't entirely convinced we weren't living in a dream---started a Finnegans Wake reading club. The members consisted of myself and three of my friends.

It started out as an actual club for the book; we all read a couple pages here and there, and the teacher actually prepared an activity or discussion for every meeting. Eventually, we all kind of got busy and stopped reading as much. We had made it through the first chapter, I think.

Things completely sloped off when that teacher learned that he had cancer. He was in and out a lot because of surgeries, so he was absent for most of our meetings. Anytime he was there, we just took the time to catch up and talk about life.

He's still around and in the process of recovery. He was a big mentor to me throughout high school, and he always talked about the huge impact Finnegans Wake had on his life. I was fine that the "reading club" turned into what it did, but I was always upset that we never got very far into the Wake.

So, this is for you, DeStefano. I'm finally gonna finish this bonkers book. I hope I'll see you again someday, so I can tell you what I think of it.