As I walk into the large venue I see the little boy who sat in front of me in first grade, the one I had a crush on. Then there are the girls I gossiped about everything with standing in a huddle, probably still carrying on an informative conversation. There’s the little red-headed junior high boy that I went on a church hayride with sitting on cotton seed hulls instead of hay. They were in our ears, nose, mouth and hair, but I remember it being lots of fun. They all stand there, some more just classmates instead of good friends, but that was a long time ago. Now they are all so cherished and much loved by me. I told them if I had known just how special they would all be to me, I would have taken better care of our friendship many years ago.
This is our 60th class reunion — Kosciusko High School Class of 1963. Sixty years? Surely not. These people have been friends of mine for over 72 years. I began first grade with the lot of them. We were together every day for 12 years and them some of us on to college with these friends. That's a LONG time!!
I remember the classes we struggled through together, the chemistry experiments we botched, the basketball games and the bus rides to and from our rival schools. And, I remember graduation night at the former Junior High School auditorium, now the Skipworth Center. I can even remember what I wore underneath my maroon graduation robe, a white dress. I thought I was the only senior graduating with a marriage license before the diploma but found out that night there was a couple of others who had kept the nuptials a secret.
As I looked at these special people, I saw the little kids, the junior high mischief makers and the high school upper classmen. And now I saw us all as older adults, some in better shape than others, more wrinkles on some than others, traces of sadness of years lived, and all with beautiful smiles on their faces. It's as if we were frozen in time as we reminisced about days gone by, pranks pulled, and missing those who have already gone home. We have lost around 20 of our graduating class and sadly just lost another this week. Those of us who remain, I promise you realize just how blessed we are to be able to come together once again.
We were all asked to tell something about our lives, were we retired, what are we doing now, and most especially — our bucket list. Most of us are retired, except for Roy and me. Well, basically I am retired from my occupation of choice, office manager for our grocery company, but he still is involved with the retail business as well as his raising cattle and grass/hay farming. We talked about, at the reunion, how we all believed we needed to stay busy, have a purpose in life, even at our age, in order to live a long and fulfilled life. Everyone’s bucket list was meaningful and some very profound as they said, “I have no bucket list. I am very content in my life as it is right now.” That statement is to be envied by all of us.
This was a time of fellowship, laughter, lots of hugs, nostalgia and promises to keep in touch and a plan to all get back together in a couple of years.
My bucket list? TO BE HERE IN A COUPLE OF YEARS!!
One of our desserts was a delicious bread pudding. I will give you my recipe, and it’s also scrumptious.
6-7 slices of day old bread, 2 tablespoons butter, ½ cup of raisins, 2 cups of milk, 3/4 cup of sugar, 4 large beaten eggs, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Place bread pieces in the bottom of an 8-inch baking pan and spread butter and raisins over the top. Mix milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon and vanilla, and pour over bread, allowing the bread to soak up the liquid. Bake in 350-degree oven for 45 minutes.
