My family moved from Greenville, SC between my junior and senior year in high school and I graduated with a bunch of really great people but they weren't the ones I grew up with. Sherrie and I went back to Greenville for the 50th reunion of the Greenville Senior High class of 1959. The organizing committee was kind enough to let us come even though I didn't graduate with them. And it was great! I hadn't seen my classmates for 51 years and surprisingly I recognized seven of them without looking at their name badges. Oh sure they had changed but I recognized them. One of the most interesting was a young lady I'll call Vanda 'cuz that's her name. Oh sure, the hair was a different color and the facial features were different, but as a bunch of us sat in a hospitality suite chatting she smiled and, like an electric shock, so help me it was like an electric shock, I saw the Vanda I knew 51 years ago.
And there were neat things like that all weekend.
The most interesting part was observing. The years had been good to most of us, not so good to some, and some of us had run across a world class surgeon or two. Others of us had run across surgeons of other types. One of my buddies, Howard, recollected for all of us having had open heart surgery and two cancer surgeries. He didn't tell the assembled class exactly what it was but did reveal that it involved 30 feet of garden hose with a television camera, a flashlight and a Swiss Army knife taped to it which the doctor put in a place no one ever thought it could go and God obviously never planned for it to go. Some of us laughed harder than others. Completely understanding humor will do that to you.
The neatest part though was discovering how much so many of us had in common. Many had traveled, had many interests in common, and really enjoyed good food and wines. I knew some of the guys really like PBR from the Clock Drive-In, courtesy of the carhop (cannot remember his name) who was everyone's best friend if they had a buck, but this was different.
Anyway, talking to a number of them led to discussions about a river cruise through Burgundy and Provence and it turns out there are a bunch of us that want to go. So I'm looking at a cruise with Avalon Waterways next May for a really great time.
Here's a link to a slideshow showing a bunch of us including my high school and my grammar school.
Sorry Thomas Wolfe, you got it wrong.
And there were neat things like that all weekend.
The most interesting part was observing. The years had been good to most of us, not so good to some, and some of us had run across a world class surgeon or two. Others of us had run across surgeons of other types. One of my buddies, Howard, recollected for all of us having had open heart surgery and two cancer surgeries. He didn't tell the assembled class exactly what it was but did reveal that it involved 30 feet of garden hose with a television camera, a flashlight and a Swiss Army knife taped to it which the doctor put in a place no one ever thought it could go and God obviously never planned for it to go. Some of us laughed harder than others. Completely understanding humor will do that to you.
The neatest part though was discovering how much so many of us had in common. Many had traveled, had many interests in common, and really enjoyed good food and wines. I knew some of the guys really like PBR from the Clock Drive-In, courtesy of the carhop (cannot remember his name) who was everyone's best friend if they had a buck, but this was different.
Anyway, talking to a number of them led to discussions about a river cruise through Burgundy and Provence and it turns out there are a bunch of us that want to go. So I'm looking at a cruise with Avalon Waterways next May for a really great time.
Here's a link to a slideshow showing a bunch of us including my high school and my grammar school.
Sorry Thomas Wolfe, you got it wrong.
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