Unpacking Fifty Plus Years

Thanks to Doug Wolfe for this photo - and the much-needed name tags. We’re minus two who gabbed too long to get here for the Golden Hour shot…

It has taken me longer than usual to unpack from our trip to Ohio to celebrate with dear childhood friends the fact we graduated from high school 50 years ago. And that unpacking has nothing to do with luggage or clothes.

Turns out the journey and the visit pulled deep memories from well beyond the halls of Malabar High School, back to teachers and events at Johnny Appleseed Junior High and Woodland Elementary School - and before that, nursery school in the church. 

After all this time, those memories bring along with them the ghosts of teachers and parents and friends long gone with a sense of comforting gratitude for their place and the gifts they shared along the way.

The reunion events drew a solid cohort back to our hometown from the East Coast, West Coast, South Coast, and even Germany. And the hometown contingent showed up as a welcoming force, offering tours of renewed landmarks. 

It was truly a gift that ever-talented Doug produced name tags with our high school photos to trigger recognition of once-familiar faces. With the cue of 50-year-old pictures, and a slight squint of the eyes, there they were again. Same smiles and laughs peeled away the years of absence. 

I learned that a number of my childhood friends carry trauma marks from our shared fourth grade teacher. With the perspective of time, I’m sure she was equally appalled at our general lack of decorum and respect for authority. I suppose that’s because we were coming of age in the mid-1960s - an era that generated the revolutionary change that continues to mark our life paths.

I learned we were also marked by deep admiration for those teachers who inspired lifelong passions in music and the arts, in athletics, and the sciences. There was deep reverence expressed for the good ones - the band and orchestra leader who provided both memories of great joyous moments and opportunities for organizational leadership that have marked many lives. The choir leader with high expectations that still inspire achievement. 

Many of us are retired from our professional pursuits at this point - but not all. Some are recognized for their exceptional expertise in fields ranging from geology, dentistry, the law, to the impacts of space exploration - and continue to be sought out for their advice and counsel. Others have made their mark on society by raising another generation (or two) of productive citizens contributing their talents to this ever-innovative world of ours. 

Some faces I haven’t seen for the full 50 years of absence - and was so grateful they were there. The former cello player who has pursued social equity as her life’s mission. The talented musician who leaned into his passion - and is living happily in Philadelphia. I loved seeing the compassionate and kind friend who has made his life in Germany and finally meeting the love of his life who drew him overseas those many years ago. 

I’m guessing most high school classes think of themselves as somewhat exceptional. We sure do. So many noted how remarkable it was that - with all of the deep divisions roiling life worldwide right now - we created an oasis of compassionate engagement, tapping into a shared history that put the elections on hold for the weekend.

We also may have been sobered by the display board of 43+ faces who have passed on from our class of 220-something - making all of us realize that life is too short not to hold on to the gratitude that we’re still here to laugh with and hug our childhood and our friends.