Reflections on My High School Reunion

A little while ago, I wrote about high school reunions—some of the current trends, the numbers, and what people might expect to experience when they go to their own reunion. Last Saturday (June 25), my wife and I attended my 50-year reunion from Archbishop Alter High School in Kettering, Ohio. Exactly one week earlier (June 18), we attended Pam’s 50-year reunion of her graduating class at Hoover High School in North Canton, Ohio.

Originally, I thought about writing a column using the old standby method of “compare and contrast” (something that’s standard fare in high school English composition classes) to write about the two reunions. But, I decided against that. So, if you want to hear about Pam’s reunion, she will have to write about it.

A Unique Situation

My reunion was unique (but, then again, they all are) because our class of 1966 was the very first class to graduate from our high school. In September of 1962, about 270 of us started our freshman year in a brand-new building with no upperclassmen, traditions or much structure in terms of student activities or clubs, etc.

We graduated four years later from a school that had about 1,000 students, the best football team in the city and our basketball team made the district semifinals losing to the eventual state champions. Most importantly our school was making our community take notice of just how good we were and what we would become. Our class of 238 students sent grads to some of the best universities in the country, but a lot of us decided to continue our education or start careers closer to home.

Over the years, about two dozen class members had passed away and there were another 30 or so that the reunion committee could not locate. A reunion committee member told me about 100 class members would attend one of the reunion weekend activities—a participation rate of over 40 percent and well above the national average of 30 percent.

The Main Event

Due to scheduling conflicts, I only attended the Saturday night main event of reunion weekend. Many thanks to two of our classmates, Toni and Charlie, who generously volunteered their home for the event. Several tents were set up in their front yard, covering a large brick patio. There was a catered buffet dinner, a disc jockey and bartenders serving plenty of beer and wine.

The 90-degree day had turned into a delightful summer evening as the sun went down. The setting was nearly perfect.

The only other reunion I had attended was the 20-year reunion so I would be meeting people I had not seen in 30 or even 50 years! As my wife and I drove from our home near Akron, Ohio, to the Dayton area on Saturday afternoon, I will admit to feeling a bit of apprehension because I hadn’t seen so many of my classmates for so long. I shouldn’t have worried. The evening was a blast! Sorry for the archaic reference, but I really had a great time.

One of the reunion organizers set up a Facebook page a couple of months earlier specifically for our class. About 60 of us joined and we were able to get a preview of what our classmates looked like, their families, careers and so on. Classmates also posted photos and reminiscences on the site and that helped jog my memory about what happened during those four years. That was a big help.

On Saturday night, we reminisced about our school years together, the progress of our careers, children and grandchildren and our retirement plans. Over the course of several hours, I was able to meet many, but not all who were there. And there were some classmates who could not attend that I really wish could have been there. There were a couple of things about that evening I will really remember.

Stories to Remember

One classmate, Sue, told me that she had become related by marriage to another classmate Tom who was to ill to attend. He is battling leukemia and he specifically asked her to look me up because he wanted to know how I was doing. Tom and I had shared many good times during our high school years and I was saddened to hear about his illness.

I was manager of the basketball team for four years and had wonderful conversations with our coach and several of the players. Andy, a reserve guard and I talked about one tough road game senior year. He played more than usual because our starting guards had fouled out. Needing a basket with one second left to win, the other team defended the player who was supposed to take the final shot well, but Andy made a great cut to the basket got the pass and hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer.

Classmate Linda lives in Southern California, but could not attend. One classmate passed around a smartphone and many of us had the opportunity to say hello to her via the magic of Apple Facetime and the Internet.

In my last essay, I mentioned that old flames from high school sometimes reconnect at reunions. I don’t know if there were any reconnections at our reunion that weekend, but I did meet the girl I had a “crush” on during high school. We had a very enjoyable chat while sitting with her husband and my wife. For me, it was a surreal, yet pleasant experience sitting between the girl I was so interested in way back then and the woman I met at college and have been married to for 46 years.

The Inequality of Aging

One thing that did strike me is the inequality of aging. All of us are in our upper sixties, and some of my classmates looked great, while others had not been treated as well by the passage of time. Aging is definitely not a fair process.

Before going to this reunion, I had heard that the 50^th reunion was the most enjoyable of all for a couple of reasons. Most classmates attending would still be able to laugh and remember their high school years. Also, at our age our lives are pretty much set, most of the important things—jobs, family, community--that faced us earlier in our lives have been settled.

I don’t know when, if ever, I will see any of my classmates again. We live more than two hundred miles from where I went to high school and I don’t think any of my classmates live close to me now. I do know that it was a fun evening sharing memories of our high school years together.

Yes, I had a blast.