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| Leslie, Sheryl, and Jackie |
My 50th High School Reunion was Saturday May 21, 2022
I graduated in 1971. So, if you were to do the arithmetic, it should have been last year 2021. But, due to the bizarre Covid era from March of 2020 to whenever, it never really got planned.
It was January of 2021 and an OP-Ed in the Wall Street Journal titled, The Future Turns 50 This Year. It inspired a bloggy bit, 1971 - 2021: 50 Years, which I posted on our Livonia Stevenson High School FB page. My classmates commented on it and began to wonder if we were having a reunion or not. A few intrepid classmates took it upon themselves and formed a committee. The stalwarts were Jackie Snook, Leslie Hart, and Sheryl Bodine Walsh (apologies if I left anyone out). They quickly and correctly deemed trying to have it in the Spring of 2021 would be too soon and decided to do a 50+1. They set-up a Facebook page, planned a venue, sold tickets, and made it happen.
As stated, the Reunion was scheduled for May 21. I was excited at the prospect of attending. I had not really kept up with people from High School. It would be amazing to reconnect and see what folks had done for the past fifty-one years. Where did education and careers take them? Where in the country and the world did they live? We would share photos of children and grandchildren. We would talk of hobbies and avocations. And… we would just reminisce.
Honestly, I did not expect to want to attend as much as did. As the date was set for May, I checked to see when my nieces twice Covid rescheduled wedding was. I was told May 14. The reunion was set for May 21. It was all good, so I purchased two tickets.
A month later, I learned that my nieces wedding was the same night. Maybe I was given the wrong info, or most likely, I got it wrong. Of course, my niece my was my priority. But part of me was disappointed not to attend the reunion.
While I missed it, the modern magic of social media compensated a bit. There were a lot of pictures posted. It looked like everyone had a wonderful time. It was good to see the photos and how people have gracefully aged. I wish I could have been there, but I was where I was supposed to be. It has been nice reconnect with classmates on social media. It would have been a nice cap to meet some of my classmates in person.
There was a short list of people that I would have loved to have seen. These were folks that I should have stayed in touch with. I wondered if they were going to be at the reunion. A fair number of people were not on the attendee list. I suppose they thought high school was a thing of the past and maybe not so relevant at this point in their lives. I can certainly relate to that, as it was my attitude since I attended the 5th year reunion in 1976. I have not been back to one since. I think high school is a distant memory for a fair number of us. For some reason, and I attribute the WSJ article celebrating the pivotal year of 1971 some part for this, I was looking forward to this reunion.
An app that was used to plan the reunion had a sadder side. It reported the classmates that had passed on. Some I was already aware of. Jim Brissie passed away while we were still in High School. Bruce Patterson died just after graduation. Both of their passings were tragic. Others passed on more recently. I was sorry to learn that Cyndy MacIsaac, Bill Hildebrandt, Ron Hoekstra, and Steve Lowrey had all died as well. I would have loved reconnecting with them. The list of the deceased also included a Jeffery Kennedy. There was, per the yearbook, only one male Kennedy in our class: Jerry Kennedy. He was listed as James in the yearbook. I hope the name listed wasn’t Jerry, he was a good guy.
Even though I was unable to attend the reunion, it was good to connect and communicate with classmates on social media.
If a 55th or 60th reunion is organized, I will try to make it, God willing.
I close this bloggy bit with a reference to a few other blog posts from reflecting on that time of my life.
- November 2008: Was it the Weirdest of Times?
- A Livonia State of Mind
- The Songs to Aging Children Project
- 1969
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