Monumental

I’ve written many times in the past about the superb quality of the class I graduated from high school with. If there as any doubt as to those seemingly preposterous claims, they were effectively silenced with this weekend’s performance of that prestigious group. I’m speaking of the 50^th reunion of this assembly of most excellent people. What kind of graduating class can assemble nearly 50% of their members fifty years after graduating. Not only dd they assemble but they assembled ready to party. We had a scary start to the weekend when my Favorite Panamanian suffered a fairly serious relapse of her vertigo. We were sitting in the kitchen just prior to getting into the car and she felt the room start to swirl around her. Luckily (note - tongue firmly in cheek) I have extensive experience with the “whirlies” from my college years so I could offer some less than well received advice. She cautiously agreed we could continue on to Keene but any chance of dancing was thought to be extinct. Oh, yee of little faith.

Our Saturday Night Table in the Foreground

Keene Friend with the Thursday Sighting of the PCR

We arrived at Keene Friend’s house, where we were staying for the weekend, and my wife was feeling incrementally better. There had already been a PCR sighting the day before when that Pittsburgh worthy and his ever-understanding spouse arrived in town. We took Keene Friend out to eat for his birthday and picked up the Cantankerous Friend enroute to the restaurant. We followed this up by traveling into town for our first event of the reunion weekend, a Reunion Eve ice-breaker held at Margaritas.

Friday Dinner

Arriving at Margarita's

It was immediately apparent that Margaritas would be challenged by the sheer number of gray-haired partiers that showed up. They had set up a modest two tables near the back and expected that to suffice. We established firm control of the rear third of the place and didn’t relinquish it until late in the night. There was quickly a line at the bar to obtain drinks that to stood for our entire stay. Ther was an obvious lack of effective management as the overworked bar staff was never reinforced and the waitresses never wandered into our area. I guess since they’re used to the college town patrons, they didn’t realize they had a ready source of good tippers in our group. As with most things, our group adapted and overcame the challenges.

Wife with a Classmate of Mine

The Gathered Bunch

Talking with Some of Those Ladies

Dominating Margarita's

Wife with Keene Friend

We set my Favorite Panamanian up in area with couches while we did the reunion thang. That included the usual hesitant approach and tentative identification of friends we hadn’t seen in fifty years. The hesitancy was thoroughly vanquished as the feelings of comradery that seems to permeate all gatherings of these classmates asserted itself. I’m sure the other patrons in the bar were impressed with the sheer amount of talk and laughter emanating form our sanctuary. I got to speak with some of the beautiful ladies I mentioned in my last post under the steely eyed gaze of the nearby Favorite Panamanian. Two of the coolest aspects to the night, other than the ladies of course, was how many people said they’d read Frail Deeds but more importantly more wanted to know about the annual birthday pub crawl. Opportunities abound. The best aspect of the night was my Favorite Panamanian feeling better.

The Old School

Front Entry Completely Changed

Keene Freind and I In Front of that Long Hallway

Saturday brought the day of the actual reunion in the evening. Before that there as an opportunity to tour our old high school to see all the changes and boy were there changes. It’s almost as if it had been a half century since we last walked these halls. There has been significant additions to the old building, including a massive vocational arts center. I could still make out vestiges from our day, including the long front hallway which seemed smaller somehow. The huge central cafeteria of our time had been razed and converted into an impressive auditorium. The building, repository of so many memories from that time, still provided the hoped for glimpse back to those days while still being infinitely changed. We celebrated with another birthday meal for Keene Friend where we were joined by Keene Friend 2 as well. My wife’s progress in the battle with vertigo showed some real signs of improvement. She had been shopping with the PCR’s wife while we were touring the high school.

Tour Starts Where Main Office Used to Be

Former Cafeteria

Saturday Lunch

In preparation for the evening’s big event, I, as required, underwent guidance on what I would be wearing. I opined that a short sleeve shirt and khakis would be appropriate. With my 49% of the vote, I ended up going with a long sleeve shirt and blazer. I took a little bit of pleasure upon arrival to see so many short-sleeved shirts in evidence. I wisely did not bring this up with my fashion guru, 41 years of marriage does provide the occasional insight. It took about twenty minutes to get into the actual event as we had to pass by the welcome table with the obligatory name tags with our senior year photos attached. Those were really convenient after the Friday night guessing game of who was talking to whom. We set up at a table with Keene Friends 1 and 2, the Cantankerous Friend and the PCR. The PCR was something of a social butterfly all night. He considered us as close friends and was more involved in hunting down people he didn’t see as many times as us.

Our Exceptional Table

Saturday Dinner

Country Club Transformed

The organizing crew for the reunion did a fabulous job of organizing and preparing the country club for the event. They even had two bartenders which reduced the wait time. One of the only formal events of the evening was the usual cat herding exercise of getting the nearly 200 senior citizens organized for the official picture. Once that was accomplished, a tasty buffet dinner was devoured and the dancing started.  In a major surprise the Favorite Panamanian volunteered that she felt well enough to dance. She even dragged the Cantankerous One out onto the dance floor a couple times. I was flitting back and forth linking up with old friends. One of the ladies stuck a sombrero on my head to take pictures in costume. We also had a picture taken of the attendees that spent time together at Lincoln Elementary School. Way cool, as was the entire night surrounded by my classmates.

Silly Photo Time 

With Cantankerous and Some of the Dream Girls

Lincoln School Alumni!!!

Cantankerous on the Dance Floor with my Favorite Panamanian

Our time at the Country Club had to end at 10pm but the organizers organized around that. They declared an official after-party at one of their homes. We’d been there on prior reunions for less declared after parties which had gotten our host in serious spousal trouble on those occasions. He claimed to have spent the entire week working at the direction of said spouse getting the house ready. They have a beautiful house on Beech Hill with spectacular views overlooking Keene. My Favorite Panamanian was back in her role as designated driver and we had a full car of well lubricated Keene Friends and the Cantankerous One. She remembered to turn the headlights on this time so there was no interaction with the State of New Hampshire’s finest, although the car was every bit as noisy as that well remembered event. She can now even kid about it, a little bit.

After Party

The get together was very well attended and a bit more low key than the country club had been. It offered the opportunity to talk at length with some of the people I’d only seen in passing earlier. I was struck by just how affable a group the classmates are. Despite having forged diametrically different paths in life following high school graduation, there is still a bond that cannot be denied and is easily celebrated. It’s hard to believe fifty years has passed but the adage applies. It certainly does fly when you’re having fun. That applies not only to the past fifty years but also to this past weekend. It was over way, way too soon. Love those classmates.

Three movies fell in my A-Z watch, all keepers: The Fugitive, possibly Harrison Ford’s best movie; Full Metal Jacket, Kubrick’s look at the Vietnam War, drill sergeant scenes brought back a lot of memories; and The Full Monty, seemingly absurd plot delivered in awesome manner.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course