The Reunion

We went to our school's reunion last night. It was also my 40th year class reunion. It was also our 39th wedding anniversary. Two years of planning by the reunion committee resulted in a pretty nice evening out. For us, it was a big anniversary party that we didn't have to pay for! Well, except for our two $35 tickets. All of our school friends were there, we had music (loud), food (fair to middling), drinks (expensive) and dancing!

The event was held at Wayside Inn in Middletown. We weren't actually in the inn, we were out back under a huge white tent. I wasn't too excited about the tent, because we were expecting thunderstorms and lightening and heavy rain. When we first got there, I was setting up the items for the silent auction and the wind kept blowing everything down. The auction papers were flying around like kites and, well - it wasn't a pretty sight! Eventually, the management put up more tent sides and that helped with the wind problem. But, it also brought on the heat. Without the cool breezes, we were getting more and more uncomfortable. Six of one and a half dozen of the other, right?

Soon, people started lifting up the tent sides down away from the auction items and the tent cooled down again. The thunderstorms and heavy rain never appeared. The night was balmy and breezy and just perfect for a reunion/anniversary party. No more problems, right? Wrong. The dance floor was a 12 x 12 square of flooring. Imagine over 200 people trying to dance at the same time. It really didn't matter, though. People danced where they could and everyone was happy.

It was nice to see everyone again. Some were fatter, some skinnier. Some were pushing bald or already there, some 60-somethings with really dark hair (are you kiddin' me?) and those of us with our gray hair, some with wrinkles in their faces and, amazingly, some without wrinkles. But what I noticed was this - the years just seemed to fall away when old school chums finally recognized each other and everyone was bursting out with smiles! The faces got younger looking and the bodies stood a little bit taller and the bellies got sucked in (for a few minutes). Everyone was laughing and talking and having such a good time. I think that for a few hours, the years we've been out of school meant nothing. It was like we just graduated. The stories were still fresh in our minds.

Our school-wide reunions will eventually come to an end. Since John S. Mosby Academy folded in 1969, we don't have any new classes coming behind us. Our 1960 classmates are 64 years old. The class of 1969 is already 55. In twenty years, only the last class will be able to make it to a school-wide reunion. With less than 30 class members, I doubt they will even try. It will be the end of an era.

That's so sad.