That's my old school photo above, from 1988, our Fifth Form year before many of my fellow students went off to do other things... although I stayed on for the Sixth Form. (Apologies to those kids who were sat on the edges, my scanner wasn't as long as the photo. Luckily, I and most of my best friends are pretty central.)
I don't really keep up with any old school friends any more, except via facebook where I get occasional glimpses into where their lives have taken in the 30+ years since we left high school. I had two really good friends with whom I stayed close into my 30s, but we've lost touch over the last ten years, and I guess that's as much my fault as theirs.
The idea of a school reunion though is something I'd never entertain. I can guarantee it would be full of all the people I didn't want to see again and none of the ones I did.
30+ years before our class of '88, these guys were graduating...
Tommy's selling used cars, Nancy's fixing nails.
Harvey runs a grocery store and Margaret doesn't care.
Jerry drives a truck for Sears, Charlotte on the make.
And Paul sells life insurance and part time real estate.
Helen is a hostess. Frank works at the mill.
Janet teaches grade school and probably always will.
Bob works for the city. And Jack's in lab research.
And Peggy play organ at the Presbyterian Church.
And the class of '57 had its dreams.
We all thought we'd change the world with our great work & deeds.
Or maybe we just thought the world would change to fit our needs.
The class of '57 had its dreams.
Have you ever been / would you ever go to a school reunion?
I went to a school reunion once, sometime around 1996 as I recall. Never, ever again.
ReplyDeleteMy pal and I went back to scholld about a year after we left and the headmaster thought we were plumbers there to fix his radiator.
ReplyDeleteSays it all.
Hell will freeze over before I would attend a school reunion
Brilliant!
DeleteSo which one is you?!
ReplyDeleteI feel likewise about school reunions. The moment I finished my O Levels I was off and didn't even go back to collect my certificate (done like some godawful award ceremony type crap which I was certainly not going to participate in, I fucking hated my headmistress and my red school tie had already been desecratd with punk band names in black and silver pen). I hold onto the fact that I am still the best of friends with my two closest buddies through school and it didn't need a reunion to keep that going because it was obviously meant to be. I've lost touch with everyone else - and that was obviously meant to be too!
There was a spate of school reunions around the time I turned 40 - I went to my one and so did Mr WIAA (different schools so in different towns). We both realised they had been organised by people who were on the lookout for a new partner (the time of Friends Reunited etc) and there was quite a bit of fallout after both. We’ve steered clear since then but interesting how in the main, the cliques remain the same, all those years later. My best friend from school died and the school boyfriend and I didn’t last the distance, so not in touch with anyone from those days now.
ReplyDeleteYes you’ll have to let us know where you are in the picture. The teenage DJ Rol.