It really was so much fun to see everyone and to catch up. Again, you throw a great party. There were quite a few highlights like the picture of Jon Portell running the hurdles. He looked like he was either teaching his dog to pee or trying out for the next Captain Morgan commercial. There was my ol’ neighbor Marcia Ziegler with the same infectious smile and Mark Jarvis who was just infectious. There was Jeremy Machalak with his personal traveling blues band member who swam upstream from New Orleans, sort of like a spawning run. There was Julie Walker who has to be the most unchanged person in our class. There was Leslie Weinrich for whom I always had a secret admiration and Carolyn Lenz for whom my admiration was not so secret. It was also so great to see that Carol Rittenhouse and Kevin Kinkead have come out of their shells and quit being so shy. Yeah right, like they were ever shy. There was Dodderidge who is still lost in the seventies and Ballou who gets lost in his closet. There was Karl Hinkamp who has been on every continent with the exception of South America. Antarctica versus Brazil, what was he thinking? And Jan Harder spent ten years in England. I’ve only made it to Lees Summit. There was Jay Sturtz with previously unknown Bev Connor, who never met a reunion that she didn’t like. I would have sworn she was in my homeroom at some point. There was Ellen Cohn who was in my homeroom at some point. And Lois Cramer, Gail Breen, Phil Gish, Clyde Hood, David Stansfield, Diana Kirkham, Jimmy “Babyface” Fleming, Donna Sexton, Ginny Fries and many countless others. Of course, I still avoided Coach Alpaugh and Hannah Brown. There’s bound to be something for which I’m still in trouble. It was a nice turnout and so very nice to get together and chat, share a few hugs and share a few laughs. I’m just sorry that I had to miss out on the slumber party that a few of the women were having. I’m also sorry for not being able to attend on Saturday night and to see who else might have shown. Feel free to forward this to those that attended. They’ll have five years to get over it before I have to see them again.
The only sad part is to be reminded of those who are no longer with us. I guess they shared their own reunion, but they still have a place in our hearts.
I look forward to our next gathering. I don’t think that I’ll wait fifteen years to attend the next one. That’s a promise, or a threat, depending on your perspective. Ciao.