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I went to a high school with an active reunion committee. On four occasions ,I was asked to write an introductory essay for our reunion yearbook. Reunion Twenty-FiveYears Later (1988) Everybody defines these things differently, but still the question has to be asked.What is our twenty-fifth anniversary reunion all about? Inevitably, certain people and events come to mind when we think about 1960–1963.John F.Kennedy’s presidential campaign swung into high gear on Labor Day Weekend 1960, just before our stay at Mamaroneck High School began.Kennedy was forty-three years old then;the same age many of us are now.We trusted him through the Cuban Missile Crisis and the beginnings ofVietnam.We shared his elation when John Glenn brought us equal with the Soviets in space and felt his outrage when James Meredith was denied admission to the University of Mississippi. Then, in November 1963, just after we left MHS, Dallas happened.And if any of us needed a reminder that our days of innocence were over,there it was. The music we listened to was our own.The Beatles and Motown were unknown. But we had Elvis, the Chiffons, Chubby Checker, Del Shannon, Bobby Vee, Little Richard, Gary U.S. Bonds, the Drifters, Frankie Avalon, Dion, Fats Domino, and the Marcels.TheYankees were always in the World Series, the Boston Celtics always won the NBA Championship,and there was no such thing as a“Super Bowl.”Computers were largely science fiction.The minimum wage was a dollar an hour.The Dow Jones average was in the 500s.A first-class letter cost four cents to mail. But all these things are external and belonged to people nationwide. Something more than 1960s nostalgia is drawing us back to Mamaroneck High School twenty-five years after our graduation and senior prom. We’re older now, heavier, grayer with thinning hair. Looking back, we can appreciate what people did for us then.Things we took for granted as REFLECTIONS 273 children seem more significant from the vantage point of later years.More than before, we realize that we grew up surrounded by privilege.We’ve experienced the death of grandparents, parents, and contemporaries; rejoiced at the birth of nieces, nephews, daughters, and sons. Hopefully, as a group, we’re happy now.As adolescents, most of us lacked the tools to control our destiny.We were “yukky” or “cool,”“out” or “in,” frustrated or content, and often there seemed to be no rhyme or reason why. So why have we come to this reunion? Partly,it’s curiosity,the opportunity to reminisce, a desire to re-experience old times and see old friends. But just as important, a reunion is a chance for each of us to learn about ourselves. In order to find out more about who we are today, we have to go back to who we were long ago. In the end then, we’re here in recognition of a very simple common bond.We knew each other when we were young. ThirtyYears Later (1993) Okay, gang !We’ve got a president who’s younger than we are. But as Casey Stengel once said, growing old is better than the alternative.And besides; we aren’t old yet. Most of us are just reaching that high plateau where we’re wise enough to understand what life is about and young enough to fully enjoy it.This reunion fits so nicely into that. After all, which one of us hasn’t said at one time or another,“If I knew at age seventeen what I know now . . .”Well, here’s our chance. For two days, we’re seventeen again. Looking around the room at our last reunion, I couldn’t help but think that as a group we’re not all that remarkable. I’m sure, every evening in the United States, there are thousands of gatherings made up of people just as nice, just as smart, and just as accomplished as we are. But there’s one thing about us that’s unique.We have the ability to come together and re-create our past.That’s one of the reasons these reunions are special. They enable us to revisit a time in our lives when the world seemed fresh and green. How else can anyone explain the conversations of five years ago . . .“I never told anyone this, but I had an incredible crush on you in tenth grade ...Everyone thought I got...

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