The Kids Are Alright

Branding the event!

In the early 1970s, my graduating class seemed caught between two proclivities: the school-spirited patriots and the well-seasoned hippies. We had an identity crisis of sorts, and at the end of our senior year, the principal called a special assembly to tell us we were the most apathetic class to have ever graduated from our school.
I left town for college after that and then, for a number of reasons which are highly fictionalized and romanticized in my novel, The Spaghetti Afterlife (shameless plug, I know!), I eventually moved out to San Francisco.
So it wasn’t school spirit that brought me back to my 45th High School Reunion, as much as curiosity. After all, most of us spent at least four to twelve years together in a relatively small pocket on the North Shore of Long Island. What has become of them? I wondered. Are they happy? Hooking up with Wayne, (NSHS Class of ’72, who’s always kept up with his classmates) 36 years after graduating, our marriage, and my subsequent social media involvement helped pave the way to reconnecting. Plus we had other friends and relatives to visit further north, so we figured we’d make a whole summer vacation out of it.

---

We left Medford early in the evening, winging our way over Table Rock towards our connection in Seattle. Did you know that Alaskan Airlines offers free craft beer and wine on its shorter flights? Yum! The flight attendants are also quite friendly, referring to me as “Miss.” A seamless connection in Seattle and we were on our red-eye flight to New York.
We landed at JFK stupidly early and found our way to the Enterprise car rental place. I feel as if I must mention this vendor by name as well; their customer service was superb. An agent met us at the door and sensing our bleariness, walked us through the check-in process, then to the parking garage, where she offered us a free upgrade. We opted for a brand-new, fully-loaded Nissan Altima, a real comfy cruiser.
When we arrived at our hotel, we got out of the car and the humidity hit me as if I’d entered the sauna at the Y and poured water over the hot stones.
A nap and a shower later, we headed over to the Friday night event in Glen Cove. I would be seeing people I literally haven’t seen in 45 years!

With our friend Keith - troublemakers from way back meet once again for the Friday night “loose” gathering.

Saturday, Wayne took us into New York City for a quick side trip: a Meet and Greet in Central Park, in Strawberry Fields, right across the street from The Dakota. He invited a number of people he knew, to stop by and visit. New York City  is a lot different than I remember – a marked contrast to my somewhat grim experience in 1983-84. When we emerged from Penn Station there was a line of shiny yellow hybrid taxis out front. Ours was perfectly clean, with a TV and credit card machine.
We sat on one of the park benches with a musician playing Beatles songs in the background as several friends of Wayne’s stopped by. Some great chats and new friends for me! Plus we spotted the famed Naked Cowboy on our ride through Times Square, which I might add, has taken on the unique flavor of Disney meets Blade Runner.

Here we all are at the Saturday night soiree in Jericho. The warm, the curious, the fun-loving people, some who barely remembered each other, and those who’ve kept in touch. The ones who came back. Kudos to the organizers, who put together not just one party, but an entire 3-day event. Take that, Principal French!

Oh yeah, the kids are alright.

NSHS buddies Margo, Madeline and John!

Another quick side trip: my first time out on Long Island Sound since the early 1970s, thanks to our friend Mike and his sailboat. Since I spent most summers on a boat here, it was mesmerizing to be back on the water. Bear with me. I was breaking in my first smart phone.

The Sunday reunion picnic at Tappan Beach was right next to the marina, so I took a quick dip before heading over. Me and my aging mermaid complex – I just can’t help myself. More people I hadn’t seen in years showed up. Interesting conversations ensued, including stories about friends who've developed the same interest in zombies that I have: a classmate and his wife put my make-up efforts to shame when they showed me pictures of their zombie alter-egos at an event in Atlantic City.

Here we are again, give or take a few people from Saturday night.

Later Wayne and I sat on a park bench at the edge of the water in Sea Cliff, watching the sunset and marveling at the remarkable setting of our young lives, warts and all.

After one more breakfast with our Long Island friends we headed north to the Catskills, where we visited my cousin, Diane. Bonus: a ferociously intense and beautiful thunderstorm during our lunch, the kind us Oregonians rarely get.

Me and my cousin Diane!

We arrived in the Adirondacks just before dark, to visit more old friends (and of course, the descendants of Penny the Fox, long-time denizens of our friends’ wooded property). We spent the rest of the week relaxing, swimming, gift-giving and eating, with little obligation or desire to be anyplace else. The Sacandaga Reservoir, the Hudson River… I unabashedly tossed myself into each one of them and thanks to the softness of the water, returned home with extra-silky hair.

Three of my oldest friends, and one new one!