Magnolia Class of 1969 members pose during a recent gathering.

Last Saturday evening I joined some old friends, some I had not seen in years and others I see often around town. The Class of Magnolia 1969 was made up of over 150 classmates.

On the day before we graduated, our stern-faced Principal George Mullet held a clip board high as he shouted, “If you kids don’t settle down, I will call off graduation and send your diplomas to your homes.” If he thought that would frighten us into being perfect little seniors, he was wrong. And yet we respected him enough to know he was right; we were celebrating before we had achieved what we thought was a great milestone in life, and no more would we be told what to do by teachers. We would be free and make our mark in the world. Or so we thought.

Saturday evening’s reunion was a bit of a disappointment to me. Out of our large class, only eight members showed up to relive those past days. Each brought along a covered dish to share with the others. Think of it as a picnic. We even had live music; well almost, the DJ was alive and energetic and played canned music from our generation. You know the kind of music that you can understand the words.

One thing I am sure of, the eight members of the class who came have surely learned how to cook in the last fifty-five years. For those in the class who didn’t attend, you sure missed some great food. By the end of the meal the request for the recipes from homemade dishes were being exchanged.

An outstanding fruit salad, peanut butter pie and an upside-down peach cake were the evening’s desserts. Fruit salad is always a hit. The peanut butter pie was so good, I think the secret recipe was offered for sale for $1000.00. But the upside-down peach cake almost brought the seventy-year-old group to verbal exchanges as to how good it tasted.

This was a reunion where we sat and talked about our lives. Not so much about our kids or grandkids, but about where the years have taken us on our life’s journey. No one talked about their ailment, too much, but saw their life as being in a good place.

We talked of the days years ago and how when we received our diploma’s and removed our caps and gowns something happened, we hadn’t thought about, our life beyond high school took over. I said it was like opening a box of kittens in a barn, they disappeared in all directions. Never looking back and eager to move on.

I had many friends that I remember that left never to return. I always wonder where some had gone. Jimmy Wade, Clyde Smith, Dorothy Meeks, Jimmy Beals, Ronnie Snell, Rick Stout, Charlie Patterson, George Chandler, Pat Phillips are some of the kids I remember and wonder how they are doing. Others spoke of high school friends that were lost in time. I guess that’s the way life is supposed to be, memories of friends during those important years of becoming an adult. One thing I do believe, my high school may have had Magnolia on the outside, but the Magnolia I remember were the friends with whom I grew up with. Freckled faced Terry Barnes, funny Tommy Fraker and the girl with braces who try to hide them. That was my Magnolia High School that I treasure and remember.

John Samson was always a card. When the Beatles were big, John saved his money and sent away for a Beatle style wig from the back of a comic book. When John wore it, he looked more like the Geico Caveman than John Lennon.

No talk of politics or past high school buildings, no talk of teachers who we once feared. And no talk of what the future for people in the seventh decade of our lives holds tomorrow. There were only eight of us, but for a couple hours we relived a special time in our lives.

Bonnie Shannon Sheid and Mellisa Clark Schamp are still good-looking girls from our class. I remember them in their gold band uniforms and bright smiles. Melinda Varian Grandstaff, who I once spoke to on the inside front steps of the high school. As we talked the sun suddenly came in the window and highlighted her blond hair, it was a moment from an old movie. Jim Sing, I remember as energetic and full of life, which he is still the same today. Jolene Postlwaite Henderson, I have to admit I knew in high school but never knew very well. I now realize I missed an intelligent friend all those years ago. Ronnie Ruth had a full head of red hair and always a smile with a little bit of orneriness in it. Bobbie Hoffman Wiley Dent was quiet and shy, but had and still has a bright smile. And as for myself, well I have learned that life is something to be remembered and not closed inside a yearbook. And those friends whom I spent only a few years with, they all hold a special place in those formative times in my life. Oh, yes as is typical our class president Sam McCaskey made his entrance late.

As we finished our gathering, I pointed out that for our next reunion we should make sure it is wheelchair accessible. I also hope that classmates who will be approaching their 80th years in age, will return one more time to be part of the class that George Mullet loved so much. I also want to thank Bobbie and Jolene for their work in putting together this reunion for the Class of 1969, as we saw it Through the Lens.