Paul Ivey *

I am thankful to the people who are putting this reunion together and assembling this website. I especially enjoy the pictures people are posting on their profiles. I remember when I had brown hair. I remember when Linda Hitz had brown hair. I remember when Don Lucik and Lester Taylor had hair. Mike Wood had no children, and Cada Kilgore was "Tommy."

I went to Midway, like my Dad did in the 1920's and my Grandfather in the 1890's. I'm referring to the Original Midway, located in a community once known as Midway; not the New Midway, which I think is in Scottsboro.

Speaking of moving schools around, the BHS I knew disappeared entirely. My youngest daughter Tory, a student at GCSU, which I still call Georgia College, lived in an apartment which is located, as near as I can tell, about where Miss Horne's chemistry lab used to be.

Since my family may read this, I will start out saying that I am most proud of my wife, two stepdaughters, three daughters, two granddaughters, and one hopelessly outnumbered grandson. (We also have three dogs, female, of course.)

Sara is my 34-year old stepdaughter, mother of Joseph (4). Sara was suddenly widowed two years ago. She does public relations for the American Cancer Society which is headquartered in Atlanta. She is a marathon runner who has traveled as far as Hawaii to compete. She is sponsored by Marathon Energy Bars, and she recently competed in her first triathlon.

Sara's sister Julie,31, blessed us with our first granddaughter, Lemuel. Julie, her husband Michael, and Lemuel live within walking distance, a grandmother's delight.

My daughter Emily is 25 and just receive her master's degree from Georgia Tech, my alma mater. She traveled to Barcelona in May to present a research paper she had done to an international conference on web applications.

Ansley, 23, is enrolled at Kennesaw State U. She gave birth to Anne in 2008 while her husband, a Marine, was stationed in Iraq. He was able to participate via webcam. Ansley is also a runner, specializing in 10K's.

Tory is smart and beautiful and 19 and a sophomore in chemistry at GCSU, which, as you know, I still call Georgia College.

Kae is the best wife on the planet, a good Christian, a kind person, and much more than I deserve. She graduated from UGA with a degree in home economics and can bake biscuits from scratch. It don't get much better than that.

I was going to list other accomplishments, but I think I will leave it at that.

Actually, I'm about as dull now as I was in high school. At Baldwin, I was in Band and the Science Club; now I am in a church bell choir and an archery club. Things haven't changed much.

"I've got my hushpuppies on, I guess I never was meant for glitter rock and roll." - J. Buffett

Actually, you may be surprised to hear, a few years ago, I took a hang gliding course at Lookout Mountain, where the jumping-off point is 1000 feet above the landing field. It is a sport well suited for young, strong, 150 pound men and perhaps less well suited for a sedate middle-aged man over 200 pounds who is in the middle of a raging mid-life crisis. Did I have fun? Yes. Will I do it again? No.

I would like to continue to wake up each day in my right mind. Do not take this for granted.

Over a year ago I took up competitive target archery, using a recurve bow. This is not a longbow (Robin Hood) or a compound bow (deer hunter), but the type used in, most visibly, the Olympics. I am active in the Kennesaw Archery Club, which has ranges in Acworth and Austell, but not Kennesaw. During indoor season, I won a bronze medal in a state meet and a silver medal in a regional meet in my division, which is Old Men Who Don't See as Well As They Used To. That's not what they call it, but that is what it is. Outdoor season has proved much more difficult for me, as the longest distance is 90 meters, which, for you compound bow deer slayer types, translates to 98 yards without a scope.