To The Good Old Days

It's one of those events that you go to and you're not quite sure what to expect: the high school reunion.  My 30th was this past Saturday and any hestitation, uncertainty or reluctance I may have had going in disappeared the moment I walked in the door.  First, some background.  I went to a small Catholic high school just up the street from where I currently work. (I laughed with friends saying I really haven't gone very far in life, just kind of rolled down the hill from class to a career.)  There were about 160 of us in the class of '78.  Sure we had the cliques and teenage drama that every high school class has, but for the most part we all got along really well.  There were no "mean girls"or abusive BMOC's, just a bunch of middle class kids going to school and having fun on the weekends.  I have to say we had some wild moments, though, considering we were going to school in the mid-seventies.  The drinking age was 18, Vietnam was not quite over and the drug-era was at its peak.  As we reflected Saturday night, " Can you imagine our 16 years olds sitting at a bar drinking the way we used to?"  We also didn't have a lot.  There were no February vacations in Barbados or summers in Nantucket; most of us had to work.  Our proms were in our cafeteria, and we decorated them.  Our Homecoming floats we made ourselves out of chicken wire and tissue paper. God forbid it rained! Our cars were mostly used, and the guys worked on them themselves.  I even changed a tire or two on my parents' big old Pontiac.  That's when I learned you have to put something to block your front tires when you jack up your car, especially if you're on a hill.  That's a whole other story!  How my father ever freed up that wedged jack is still beyond me.  Anyway, when we gathered Saturday night it was just like we had never left.  Sure a wrinkle or two and some gray hair, but the bond was still there.  My classmates went on to have productive careers, mostly happy marriages and a lot of kids. We shared old stories and caught up on 30 years of life!  And even though I went in not knowing what to expect, I left with a whole new set of happy memories.

Comments

[Wally]

Wonderful story Rebecca. Made me think of my old cassmates. They sure were the "good 'ol days". Thank you for sharing.