During the 1980s I was visiting my aunt and uncle in the LA area.  My uncle told me about his fiftieth reunion which had taken place a couple of weeks prior to my visit.  He said, “Betty and I got all dressed up and headed toward the nearby hotel where the reunion was being held, but as we turned into the parking lot I looked at her and told her I didn’t want to see those people.  I wanted to remember them the way they were, not the way they are now.  We turned out of the parking lot and went to a restaurant and had a quiet dinner.”  This was surprising to me as they had been a power couple in high school and had attended all prior reunions – and enjoyed the events.

Yet, that’s how I feel about my class.  In the early 1970s we were young, fresh, full of life, and the opportunities lying before us were unlimited.  I want my memories to be of a bunch of fresh-faced seventeen-year-olds graduating from a brand-new high school.  When speaking to my wife I still refer to that building as the new high school.  My memories of the school are stuck in 1973 and perhaps it’s best for me to keep its people confined there as well. Continue reading →