Linda casually asked me the other night how many classmates from my graduating high school class were not located. I said their website showed a couple hundred (out of a class of 600). She commented that if I printed out a list from the website that she might take a look see how difficult it might be to find some of them, including my best friend from high school who long ago dropped out of sight.
Within minutes, I hear whooping and hollerin' and she announces "I found some!". Sure enough, she had located 5 certain matches on Facebook. One of them was still in my high school home town. It reminded me of a lot of the Reitz folks that were hiding in plain sight here in Evansville.
Spared the responsibility of being on the reunion committee of Wayne Valley Senior High School, I will forward the information along to the folks who have been actively organizing things for my class for the past 44 years. I guess they never thought to use the new tools to find the old people. Anyway, Linda's glad to help and I'm delighted to be back in closer contact with my roots. As the old (literally) Student Council President and newspaper editor, I guess it's only right to shoulder some of the burden and we all know how "persistent" Linda can be in her research. She's still trying to get the true story on Jerry Powell and some others still not located.
And the Reitz Committee (The Gang of Five) has been hawking chances on the Condo drawing with considerable success. The work is a slower go than Reunion reservations or Directories when they first were available, but it's understandable. Some people hate the beach (ugh. All that sand!). Others prefer cool to hot; preferring mountains to beach. And even though the chances are only $10, the trip (what with gas prices as they are) requires a little additional investment, like food and travel sundries etc., etc. Nonetheless, it is an incredible opportunity for a small investment if a Gulf Coast vacation was something you were considering anyway. You know the drill: Getting away for a while, good; Stay at home all the time, bad. Again, our thanks to Gary Malin for making this possible for the class. Linda loves that area. I'm sure we'll be getting some chances too.
The committee is working on convincing Linda that it's okay not to have every little detail locked down for the 45th Reunion. We've got over a year. It's a lot like trying to get James Brown (you know, the hardest working man in show business) to quit. You get her settled down and then she grabs the mike and the cape and starts dancin' and singin' again. We'll keep working on it and in the meanwhile, all you folks that have offered to help with Reunion tasks: Just be careful what you ask for; you just might get it. Just kidding. But don't be surprised if a classmate comes to your door to ask a favor of you.......
This whole experience has made me stop and think about the lessons I've learned about this whole experience. First, that no matter how you try to separate it from your life, your past is a part of who you are, good, bad or indifferent. You couldn't have done it any other way or else you would have, so while you may have regrets, it's too late now. It's just one foot in front of the other as you proceed down the road of life. At this point in our finite time, you might as well celebrate your past and use it to pave your future path. That's why I'm going to my 45th Reunion in Wayne NJ on May 27, 2012. It's why you should go to yours on September 8, 2012. Hell, I'm only an honorary member of your class and I'm going!?!
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