Author:
Boyd Percy
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Date Posted: 20:13:57 06/24/15 Wed
>>Another column lifted from the paper.
>>
>>Boy, do I feel old right now.
>>
>>My fiftieth high school class reunion was held over
>>the weekend, and, good grief, that was a half a
>>century ago.
>>
>>I will be the first to admit that when I think of some
>>of those people a mental picture of what they were
>>like fifty years ago appears -- but in some cases that
>>mental picture is unbelievably wrong. To be honest,
>>some of my classmates still resemble who they were
>>back in those days, but in so many cases I would find
>>myself looking as someone and thinking, "Who the Sam
>>Hill is this?" The differences between the two just do
>>not compute.
>>
>>There were twenty-four of us at the alumni banquet
>>Saturday night. That's not bad out of a class of
>>eighty-seven. Of that number, seven have passed on.
>>
>>Our class has always stuck together as alumni better
>>than most classes, and this has mostly been the result
>>of one of our class members, a woman who I refer to as
>>our "permanent de-facto class president." (Yes, she
>>was the inspiration for Emily Holst!) She has made a
>>hobby for the last fifty years of keeping up with the
>>rest of us, and she's done a bang-up job of it. That
>>has involved a lot of letters and phone calls over the
>>years, and only more recently have email and things
>>like Facebook been involved. Of the eighty class
>>members, she has only lost track of two, although
>>admittedly contact with some of the others has been
>>rather tenuous. Having offered assistance in several
>>classmate hunts around here over the years, I can tell
>>you that's doing pretty darn good. The fact that in
>>recent decades we have gotten together once every five
>>years helps.
>>
>>Although a surprising percentage of us are still more
>>or less local, say, within fifty miles or so, there
>>are people scattered all over the country, with a
>>concentration, not surprising considering our age,
>>located in Florida. The farthest anyone came for our
>>reunion activities was from Arizona. We have several
>>classmates who live in Texas -- one, interestingly,
>>raises Bramah bulls, and another raises and trains
>>race horses. You can take the boy out of the country .
>>. .
>>
>>A lot of the discussion involved "what are you doing
>>these days" kinds of questions. Needless to say, many
>>of us are retired or semi-retired, but there are at
>>least a few of us who don't have plans to retire any
>>time soon. Many of us have had health problems, some
>>of them serious, and without doing a scientific survey
>>and study I would have to say with some relief that I
>>am among those lesser affected with serious health
>>problems.
>>
>>But a lot of the discussion also involved tales from
>>back in the good old days. I heard some surprising
>>stories of events back then, things I had never heard
>>before. At least part of that was that there were
>>stories that didn't cross from the girls to the boys
>>or vice versa, at least back in those somewhat more
>>innocent days -- but those were long ago, so maybe it
>>didn't matter any more, and besides, at least some of
>>those stories featured the two thirds of the class
>>members who didn't make it to one of the reunion
>>events over the weekend.
>>
>>In spite of the good turnout of the class -- and
>>roughly a third of the class showing up at one event
>>or another is a very good turnout -- I still felt very
>>curious about what had happened in the lives of those
>>not present. For instance, I haven't heard much of
>>anything about my best friend from high school in at
>>least forty years, and of course he didn't show up.
>>
>>All in all, though, I guess most of us turned out
>>pretty average. Some of us have done well, and others
>>not as well; luck has smiled on some of us, and not on
>>others. There are stories there I have never heard,
>>some of which I would like to, although the odds are
>>that I won't.
>>
>>On Saturday I went to my niece's graduation open
>>house. "Just think," I told her. "In fifty years you
>>can be going to your class reunion and be amazed at
>>what's happened to everyone."
>
>
>Go Class of 1965! I need to check if our class has
>anything planned.
Rats! My class had a reunion in March and nobody contacted me. Should have kept up with them better.
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