Well now ain't this a shocker

Every day or two I've tried to see if Blogger would let me back in, but it never has. This afternoon I commented on a few sites. I've been able to do that all along, but not to post on my own site. Not even today. Now tonight I give it a shot, same old password and user name, and here I am. So here's a quick post.

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The Oakridge Boys recorded a song about the Class of '57 a few years ago. That was the year I graduated high school, so 2007 makes 50 years. Boy that number just seems way too high for some reason.

Anyway, the class of '57 got together last Saturday in central Indiana. Out of the 26 in our graduating class, 3 are deceased, one is "where-abouts unknown, possibly deceased", and 22 are still around. 19 of us showed up for the shindig. Some of those people I'd not seen in almost that entire 50 years, so we had quite a time getting reacquainted. Most of the time was spent just conversing, having brunch and the like, but in the afternoon we all took seats in a circle and one by one gave a brief run-down of how our lives had been for the last 50 years. No one got dramatic, keeping it light, but everyone gave a pretty good talk about their half century.

The class of '57 doesn't have any millionaires, no celebrities or movers and shakers, but we seem to be the "common man". The people that, after all is said and done, are the real backbone of this society. Farmers, lab technicians, policemen, teachers, in construction, printers and the like. We had several hours together but the time seemed so fleeting. How do you make up fifty years in a day? Of course you can't, but we 19 weren't listed among the deceased and were blessed to have those few hours to laugh, recall our times together, collect a few hugs and handshakes, and marvel at the very idea of a half century having passed.

Out of the 26 graduates in '57, 16 of us had started first grade and attended all 12 years of school together. It was a small school in a farming community. One of those that attended was with us only during the senior year. He said Saturday, in twelve years of school he went to 9 different schools, and was always the outsider. Our class was the only one that ever made him feel he belonged. It was a good class.