40 years and still smiling

Last Saturday, I attended my 40th High School Class reunion. It was a step back in time, a step back to 1971.


I had some reservations as I approached the tent, who would be there, how would we all have changed, would conversations flow or be tense, would old feelings be better left stored in the memory bank?


Well, any reservations I may have had quickly passed as I was greeted warmly by an old friend as soon as I walked over to the tent.





40 years later and we all still laughed together, shared some personal history, reminisced about the old memories (which are much better shared and brought out of memory storage) and for just one short evening nothing mattered except our class of 1971. It didn't matter if we had changed the world or just changed our underwear. It didn't matter if we had accomplished every dream we ever had or lived through a nightmare. It didn't matter if our legacy would live on forever or be forgotten as soon as we left this world.


What mattered was that on that evening, 40 years after graduating, we came together and laughed. We came together and touched one another's lives if even for just a few hours. We became teen agers once again and went back to that time, which is much sweeter as you look back on it. Sometimes living it was anything but sweet, but years have softened it and made it better than it actually was, at least in our minds.


Yep, it was a good night and I am so happy I attended. I walked away feeling happy, accomplished, and very excited to get back to my family for the annual Riverfest fireworks. Here is how it looked as I approached. Our class was not well represented at the reunion, but the people who came certainly had a good time reconnecting.

That's me in the black shorts talking to my friend, Mary Krueger Scherer. She was one of the first non-St. John's person I met in my homeroom on that first day of High School. It was a scary thing to be leaving a parochial school after eight years and walking into a room full of people that I did not know, but meeting Mary who just happened to be from a different parochial school made is all okay. We were coming from similar backgrounds and we were both a tad bit scared of what this High School business was all about. We are still good friends, but life has been busy and we have neglected getting together as often as we wanted.

This is Mary's husband Mark. I seem to be explaining something of great importance to him on this photo. I didn't know Mark very well in High School. I am thinking we moved in different circles, but since he married Mary, I have gotten to know him very well. I enjoy his laid back spirit and warm personality. He has a quick wit and I can see why Mary loves her life with him.

These are two of my friends from St. John's where we spent those eight years together. Pam Baumann Irwin is in the foreground with her husband. They came all the way from Colorado for this reunion. Pam looks just as I remember her from gradeschool. She had a ponytail with a long curl. When I sat behind her in school, I could stick my pencil up that curl. I was envious of her beautiful ponytail. She still has gorgeous hair. Pam was sweet, kind, and quiet. She was a caring person and I can tell she still is. I don't remember Pam from High School because we went our separate ways, but in many ways, the memories from St. John's are dearer and sweeter to me.

The girl (I know we are no longer girls, but woman/lady sounds so odd)
on the left in the background is the other gradeschool friend in this photo. Her name is Karen Stueber Sherry and I remember her as being the best girl athlete in our class. I liked to go over and play at her house, I liked her family. Karen had a carefree, fun personality. A few years ago, we were both teaching Sunday School at St. John's. She surprised me on my birthday with a candy corsage just like the kind we made for one another in gradeschool. That kind gesture made my day. That is how Karen is. Again, I don't remember her in High School, but it is good to have reconnected.

This is Nora Zemis in the blue and Devonne Banek. Nora was from St. Bernard's and I am not sure where Devonne went to gradeschool. I didn't know them well in High School, but I shared classes with them and always found them friendly and fun and very smart. I was involved in Forensics in High School and that is where I met many people who ran out of my usual circle. I think Nora and Devonne may have been on the forensic team. At any rate, it was good to catch up with both of them.

In case you can't tell, St. John's was very well represented at this reunion. Here is Karen again, talking with my best gradeschool friend, Jane Warner Schroeder. Jane moved to Watertown and started attending St. John's in seventh grade. (I hope memory serves me correctly on that one) I had just watched my best friend, Cathy Corbin pack up and move away the previous summer, so when Jane joined our class, she filled my need for a new best friend. We shared so many great memories doing what seventh and eighth grade girls do. I was boy crazy and she tolerated that trait with patience and grace. I am sorry that we did not stay connected in High School, but am happy to report that we are FB friends and are keeping up on one another's life that way.

The boy/gentleman talking to them is Tom Reason, another St. John's friend. It was so nice to chat with him at the reunion. Tom was one of my first boyfriends way back when those relationships are in the experimental stages and I have only happy memories of that time. I don't remember Tom from High School and I am not sure why that is, since we should have been hanging in the same groups. I do remember having Chemistry class with him and our crazy teacher, Mr. James and that is all I will say on that man.

Here is Darlene Schmoldt Shell visiting with Karen and I am not sure who else. Darlene had a twin brother Daniel who were my classmates all through St. John's. I remember their birthday party in the second grade. They lived in the country and the party was at their house. Daniel invited some boys and Darlene invited some girls. I don't remember much about the party except that it was fun. We all got a ride home in the back of their pick up truck. Wow, that was so much fun! Darlene was quiet and kind. She had a sweet smile, still does. I am her friend on FB and I am enjoying her memories that she has been sharing on there lately. It looks like life has treated her well and for that I am glad.

This is my friend, Pat Schnieder Zimmerman and her High School sweetheart, Tom. I have very fond memories of Pat. We walked to school together and had many heart to heart chats on those walks and yes, it was four miles uphill, both ways! We were in lots of the same classes and became friends through those shared experiences. Pat is not a St. John's graduate and I cannot remember where she attended gradeschool.

This is Mark Uttech, a friend from St. John's. We have recently reconnected through FB and I have enjoyed his many thought provoking posts. He is a good writer and has a different perspective on things. He noticed all of our classmates who looked sad and disconnected at the reunion while I was too busy in my own comfort zone. He expressed that he wished he had approached those lonely looking people and talked with them. I guess that sums up the kind of person that Mark is, caring and compassionate with empathy for others.

Two more of my St. John's friends, Norman Lorenz on the left and Dennis Lange on the right. Norman's sweet wife, Michelle is in the middle. Dennis was my boyfriend in fifth grade but we didn't talk to one another. What can I say? I guess that is how boyfriends and girlfriends were in the fifth grade. I also remember double dating with Dennis and Mary Lincoln in High School. Dennis drove and we went to Milwaukee. Big outing for kids from Watertown. I remember we laughed a lot. Dennis was always sweet and caring and I know he has not changed. He just became a grandpa and it suits him well.

Norman also has a kind, caring personality. I am so happy that he found Michelle a few years ago. He deserves a wonderful person with whom to grow old. I don't remember our paths crossing much in High School, but I think he was in forensics with me, too.

This is Coleen Christianson (not sure of her married name) I believe she joined our High School class as a sophomore, but am not sure. I do remember her as a friendly, kind girl. She lives in Utah and has 14 children and 23 grandchildren! She looks just as pretty as she did in High School. She is truly blessed.

And here is the last picture of that memorable night.This is Mark, Dallas, me, Mary, Mary Tangney, and I am not sure of the last girl. Dallas was my lab partner in Physics before he flunked out and left me high and dry. it was not a match made in heaven since niether of us knew a lick about Physics. Other than that, Dallas and I did not run in the same circles.

Mary Belle Tangney Palmer was another one of my first friends in High School. She was from St. Bernard's and she was always so much fun to hang with. Her beautiful smile is still the same as I remember it way back then. She was the first one to greet me as I walked through that tent.

There are so many more people that I wish were on these pictures, but this is all I could find to post. I want to give a shout out to an old Gradeschool friend, Gary Guetzlaff who really got me thinking about our days at St. John's by his blog posts. Gary could not be at the reunion and I missed him. I would have enjoyed seeing him and chatting about all his memories. I know his is a gifted writer and I am drawn to his blog. I know he is caring and kind because he visited our old second grade teacher in the nursing home and she was not a nice person. I am hoping to reconnect with Gary by visiting his theater sometime soon.

I did spend much of my High School career dating Duffy Neubauer and so many of my memories revolve around the times we spent together. He was my date for all the dances and whenever I try to recall High School, he is my biggest memory. He was not at the reunion and that makes me a little sad, it would have been nice to see him again, but that is my only regret.

In closing, I just want to thank everyone who turned out for this magical step back into time. I hope all of you have good memories of me from High School, but if you don't I apologize for the times I may have hurt your feelings or was not as kind as I should have been. Time changes much... and yet in some ways many things stay the same.