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Robert Rudolph
I cannot tell all of you just how good it was to see so many of you again, and to chat with some of you again. I am sorry that my gimpiness kept me from moving about (not that I was well-known for that) but I do rather wish we had had about a week just to wander about and catch up - I'm sure there was that much chatting to do.
My wife is not from the area (she's a Baltimoron) but she thoroughly enjoyed the extended time we had with some class members, and was not at all bored. She had many a good laugh over some stories.
I was personally surprised at the number I could identify, and more than a little upset by the number of photos on the remembrance table. We're getting away, folks, and each departure represents a unique loss to humanity.
I think that we were fortunate to grow up (if it can be truly said of all of us that we did grow up) in the times that we did - they seem to have been gentler, safer times than those in which my kids grew up - and I fear it will be no easier for our grandkids.
I truly regret not being closer to my classmates when we were in school - but that might well be part of the maturing process. In our teens we were all blessed or cursed with a worldview that was incomplete and largely inaccurate, and it is almost a shame to hear from folks who say that high school was not a great time in their lives - because everything that followed was filled with responsibility, consequences, and duties and, truthfully, sometimes not much fun.
Many of you were very special to me and, even though you might not have known it, I treasure the continued acquaintance and some of the lessons learned, the stories told, and the relationships we almost shared in those bygone days.
I just hope the next reunion is as good as this one was - not from the standpoint of entertainment or surroundings, but from numbers of folks who arrived, who wanted to chat, who would freely discuss those times and these times and talk about lessons learned.
Thanks to all of you.
Bob
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