The Class of '87

About 33 years ago, a little group of kids gathered for Kindergarten at Watson Groen Christian School in Shoreline, Washington. 6 of us would stay together through elementary school, junior high, and high school, graduating together in 1987. If you've read this blog, you know some of us got together last month, for our 20th reunion. This picture represents a special moment - this is 4 of those six who stuck together all the way through 13 years of school, with our Kindergarten teacher, taken in the play yard of our school. That's me on the left, Kristen, Mrs. Roosendaal, Alicia, and Tania. I think Mrs. Roosendaal is kind of proud of how we all turned out, since everything we needed to know, we learned in Kindergarten.


















Here's a shot of more of the graduating class, sitting in one of our high school rooms. Added to the above four are Karen (behind Alicia, James (Behind Tania), Pam and Mariea (far right).

But in happier news

Yes, the reunion was a good time. At least for me it was. I think most would say the same. And I needn't have worried about recognizing everybody. Even after 20 years, faces and names clicked almost instantly. Of course, having a class of 32 helps - by process of elimination, you can pretty quickly figure out who is who.

As I said earlier, there are those in the class who are struggling right now. Some in the midst of ugly divorces. Some trying to raise kids across great distances. Some have lost parents recently. Some have struggled but never had kids. On the other hand, some are really doing well. Great jobs, healthy marriages. One spent years as a missionary with her husband, who is now on staff at a Covenant Church in L.A. One is doing a Masters in Spiritual Formation (Hey Diana).

It's amazing how, after all those years, you can instantly go back to that place of friendship and start talking about the deep stuff of real life. Friday night I had a couple of good conversations. Saturday morning we laughed a lot as we cleared some brush at the school. Saturday night, for me, was about three conversations - one on the boat to Tillicum Village, one on the boat ride back, and one as we stood on the dock saying goodbye. Three heart-to-heart conversations with people still searching for some answers, people in some deep pain. And it felt good to sit under the setting sun and share in each others lives.

One more thing: There were 6 of us who went together from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Four were there Saturday morning, when our former Kindergarten teacher showed up to give us a tour of the school. We got a picture of the 4 of us with our teacher. It was a quick moment, over in a (literal) flash. But so much was wrapped up in that moment - 33 years of history together? Something like that. And the fact was, we're all doing well; we all shared a laugh. One of those made-for-TV moments, only without Celine Dion screeching in the background.

Yes, the reunion was a good time.

Oh, and this: Brent told me that they were talking later Friday night, and everybody agreed that I won the award for aging the best. I suppose that's a good thing. Some vindication there.

My one hope is that a few of these relationships can carry on. I need some old friends in my life.

Catching up

A few months ago I mentioned that this summer is my 20th High School reunion. I suggested, and was given the assignment, that we set up an online message board where we could all go and tell our stories before the reunion, maybe even start some conversations and rekindle (maybe that's not the best word) some old friendships. The idea being that, when we all see each other next August, we have some sense of where everybody has been, what they've been up to, and we're already well on the road to catching up, instead of looking at each other saying "So, how long ago did you become a Harri Krishna?"

So far about 9 people have signed up and shared their stories. And it really has been interesting to read what they've been up to (even as I write this it occurred to me that I'm the only male-type person on that list. Does that mean something?). Some have known real tragedy, some have suffered the end of marriages, most have had kids, at least one is on the opposite side of the country, one was down in L.A. during the same time I was down there, some are doing really well and some are still trying to sort life out.

It's hard, of course, not to picture them as 18-year olds, which is what they were the last time I saw most of them. It's hard to picture them aging at all (after all, I haven't gotten any wrinkles or gray hair or extra pounds. . .). It also brings home what a short time 20 years really is. Graduation doesn't seem that far back. I guess the good thing is that we're still closer to young than old - we're still all on the short side of 40, anyway.

I remember my sister being amazed at her reunion at just how badly many of her classmates had turned out. From what I'm reading, the class of '87 did ok. And reading their stories has got me all the more excited to see them in person again.

One final note - doing this has opened my eyes again to the fact that we were a pre-digital generation. It's amazing how many of our classmates don't seem to have email addresses, or any web presence, for that matter. Many of my former classmates appear to have dropped into the black hole that is non-internet people. . .