FORWARD
by Elaine Hargest Hughes

 

It's a happy accident that something so banal as the year of one's birth has brought us together as classmates and friends.  The memories of those years: the sights, the sounds, the music, the myriad fashions and fads, the conflicts, the politics, and the general tenor of those times, not only contributes to the people we've become, but, just as importantly, contributes to the unique condition enabling us to reminisce vividly with one another.  A fond memory is a wonderful thing, but, a fond memory shared is perfection.

 

With this little booklet then, we've not only sought to catch you up on your classmates' endeavors, but tried to provide you the means to contact those people with whom you learned the basics, and with whom you started out on life's journey.

 

Did someone invite you to their house for your very first sleepover?  Did someone come to your rescue and lend you their notes?  Did someone hold the bus for you?  Did someone give you a compliment that did wonders for your tender morale?  Did someone pick you for their team, when they knew you weren't  too good at the game?  How about that crush you had?  Did their smile make your day?  Did someone share their lunch with you?  Give you a lift?  Explain that math problem, without patronizing you to death?  Refer to you as, ".....my best friend"?

 

These acts, and so many more, are the little gifts and victories we gave to one another's psyches while growing up.  Of course, we also dished out some unforgettable torment too.  And, it is to be hoped that we have been civilized by age and wisdom, and regret those childish insults.  By the same process, we can often count on the benevolence of the insulted.

 

So bear in mind, while reading the pages that follow, you can now call a long-lost friend and say, "Do you remember.....................?.