50 Years

As if to remind me of how fleeting life is, last weekend celebrated the 50th reunion of my high school classmates….Oak Ridge High School, Orlando, Florida, Class of 65.  Our mascot?  The pioneer.  And little did we know how that signified our futures, as we were the last of the Leave It To Beaver 50s family generation caught on the cusp of vast cultural change through the tumultuous 60s and 70s.  Yes, we were Pioneers….and we thought it was just a little rifle-totin’ guy from the West in a coonskin hat and leather pants and jacket.

One of my classmates described it as a “surreal” experience and I concur with that, having spent hours in reflection since my return flight to Maryland.  There were over 300 in our graduating class and, sadly, we’ve lost 60 members, which my actuary daughter told me was about right.  Evidently, if you live to 18, you have an 80% chance of living to age 68.  I don’t dare ask about 80.

It was nothing if not an eclectic group albeit 100% Caucasian….years before integration took hold in the South.  There were the natives….people like me who were born in Florida who had lived in our very small community, Pine Castle, their entire childhoods.  Even my mother, aunts and uncles had attended Pine Castle Elementary and I had many of the same teachers they had.

There were the base kids.  The kids whose fathers were in the Air Force and lived on McCoy Air Force Base….the same base where my father was stationed and met my mother at a dance in the 40s.  Often, the friendships were cut short by another transfer.  Those who ended up there during our high school days enriched our small town lives immensely with their knowledge, wit, and determination to belong.

There were the Sky Lake kids, a new development for the Martin Marietta engineers and their families.  There were the Belle Isle kids with their lakefront homes.  There were the trailer park kids, the wrong side of the track kids, the “hoods” who drag raced down dirt roads on Saturday nights.

Of course, there were cliques and circles of friends that were changing as we chugged along through our adolescent years.  But, overall, it was a pretty peace loving group.  I seriously don’t remember any knock down drag out fights like I’ve witnessed during my years in education.  But, then again, my memory is channeled through rose-colored glasses and I tend to block out the worst.

How I wanted to speak with everyone….over 100 classmates; but, how can you catch up 50 years in just a few hours?  So many stories to tell and so little time.  I applaud all the spouses who came….now that’s some real bravery.  I didn’t bring Buff Honey, my perfectly self-contained partner, who would prefer to read the daily paper on the deck.  How bored would he be???  One hour into it he would be whispering, “Sugar, can we go now?”  Well, noooooo!  As it is, we had three events and I was among the last to leave at each of them.  It was just too much fun!

Most of our classmates, I never saw after high school.  Some I saw at intermittent class reunions and a very few I’ve seen multiple times.  My friend, Jan, heard there wasn’t going to be a 40th reunion, so some of the females started planning bi-annual beach trips 10 years ago.  The best line at the end of the first one:  “When we get together next time, we can share all the same stories and no one will remember them.”  Oh, yeah.

My homeroom buddy and fellow cheerleader was there, felled eight years ago by a stroke which left her in a wheelchair and unable to take care of herself.  This fate after she married her high school sweetheart, who according to her was ‘doing’ every female in Florida.  But, he settled on ‘doing’ their neighbor while my friend was pregnant with twins.  They divorced and he married the neighbor.  Undaunted, she went to law school and, eventually, opened her own successful law practice.  Truly one of the most energetic and independent women who had overcome nearly impossible circumstances.  She refuses to be bitter.

Our class president.  You know the type, Mr Everything.  Homecoming King, Best All Around, Most Handsome, Greatest Smile.  I’ve known him since first grade but I would never have known him.  Sadly, he’s afflicted with Parkinson’s.  His humor, however, is still in tact.

My favorite English teacher, Mrs. Holt, was there.  The best teacher I ever had in my 20 years of education.  She was only in her middle 20s when she taught us….incredible.  She looked younger than most of us!  I told her I wrote a blog, which I’m sure surprised the heck out of her since I was the worst writer in my class.

My friend, Susie, and I stayed together, fretting that we wouldn’t recognize anybody and, worse, they wouldn’t recognize us!  She clearly had nothing to worry about, however.  The nerds have turned out, naturally, very well and look pretty good, too.  One of my best friends had a $15,000 face lift and I hate her.  This is no Joan Rivers facelift.  She looks fantastic!  She looks so good I may go back to work and start saving!

One of the shiest girls in our class turned out to be an airline pilot.  Miss Personality was a California politician turned Methodist Minister who is raising her two Tibetan granddaughters.  Lila, blind since birth, raised four children and has been a medical transcriptionist, social worker and actress.  Now, she’s launching her own company to inspire others to overcome challenges.  My impish classmate who drove me to school everyday is on the mission field in Mexico.

So many stories, so little time.  Last weekend was nothing if not inspiring.  Heaven knows by this age we’ve all encountered tragedy and setbacks.  Yet, haven’t we also known great joy?  There is immeasurable strength in the human spirit.  I am beyond grateful to have come together again with this community.

50 years.  So fast, so full, so inspirational.  Until we meet again, dear classmates, keep dancing.