This
is an open letter to anyone who is yet undecided or has decided against attending
a class reunion - I really hope you
will give me just a couple minutes of your time and consideration... Especially if you are thinking “Why should I, we weren’t really friends
then, so why now?”
First
of all, it’s really about the class, not me, so if you are listening this far,
forget about Stephen Rowe as you continue reading, and put what follows in a
context more meaningful to you. For example, if I speak of Clyde Handshoe, or
Les Walters, or Randy Bowmar, you might think of your own experience regarding
X or Y or Z. So here it is:
Clyde, I sat
beside you one year and behind you in another – remember you sketching
different animal tracks when you were probably supposed to be working in your
spelling book, but the tracks were so much more interesting, I’ve recollected
them scores of times as winter came, though I’ve never myself hunted. We were
friends for a short while, then moved in different directions, but I have never
forgotten you or our early-year friendship, and have thought of you often.
Les, I had a great
time sleeping out in your tent with you and Dan Yarde in the 3rd or
4th grade - and when you, Ed Schlotterback, Jim Burns, and I rode together
on one of the long school bus trips to Chicago, or maybe it was somewhere else?
Of course I wasn’t always a good friend, who can explain childhood?
But while I never told you so, by the 9th grade I recognized and
admired your great personal strength, and have felt deep respect for you
throughout the past 50 years. We should have been much better friends, but
knowing you has made me more aware, humble, and thoughtful as an adult than I ever
would have been otherwise. We are classmates forever, despite the far too little
personal time we spent with each other.
Randy, we played
together quite a bit when we were quite young, and I particularly remember
carving initials into trees on the edge of the Boy Scout Woods near your house.
Of course we drifted apart before long - neighborhoods change, and other
interests, but still I have often remembered those times, thought about you,
and hope to see you again.
These are just a few personal examples - there are so many more - and the point is that YOU are better remembered by so many more other classmates than you
begin to imagine. Even though you weren’t always close to X or Y or Z, YOU made an impression that has matured in
the collective memory for at least forty-five years now. YOU are a significant
part of US. And you BELONG at this reunion.
So I hope you will go, and so do many
others.
