This weekend makes
DENIAL
an impossibility.
This weekend the
ARCHBISHOP ALTER HIGH SCHOOL
CLASS OF '73
is celebrating its
40th ANNIVERSARY.
40th ANNIVERSARY?
There's simply no denying it,
because I was in that CLASS OF '73 --
I am (we are) older than I (we) think!
I remember strolling past that
shining knight, donned in its sparkling armor,
to walk into
the front doors of
to walk into
the front doors of
ARCHBISHOP ALTER HIGH SCHOOL
for the very first time.
(Gulp!)
I spent the first week or two looking for the
infamous swimming pool
that was supposedly located on the fourth floor.
(Thanks to our kindhearted upperclassman
for that little piece of fiction!)
I remember starting freshman year off on the right track,
wearing forbidden pink and baby blue sweaters
with our beloved maroon and grey plaid uniforms,
all the while blowing bubbles with that
"no gum allowed" gum.
That's when my demerits started adding up,
as did the calls from Mr. Debrosse,
THE DEAN OF DISCIPLINE,
to my Mom.
(Oh dear God! And why is his the only name I remember?)
I spent the first year or two
trying to figure out how to get from my locker
to my classes in time.
(Nope, never mastered it! Too much talking in the hallway!)
During my sophomore year I made the
LANCERETTES DRILL TEAM
and started wearing makeup on my legs,
hair buns on top of my head,
and white patent leather go go boots on my feet.
My memory of my time with the
LANCERETTES
doesn't go far beyond the dreaded scale that
would come out
before each ball game.
Yea, I was part of that wonderful "weigh in" team!
I remember
being humiliated when my older sister, Patte,
walked across the stage, as a senior,
to receive the "no demerit in four years award."
When I think back on it, I guess the actual truth was
that Patte should have been mortified by the
never ending stack
of demerits
that I earned each and every year!
(Once I had so many detentions that they had to
be carried over to the next year!)
I remember learning to drive and buying
a cute little robin egg blue
Volkswagen
named "Barney."
I remember splitting the monthly payment of
(a whopping)
$68.00 with my sister!
We agreed to pay for the car
and Dad agreed to pay to keep it running.
That was a decision, I am quite sure, he highly regretted!
I remember little things about only a few classes.
My French teacher would say these
words to me over and over again:
"Ferme la bouche!"
It seems that my feeble attempt at speaking "the language"
failed miserably
and it hurt her ears just to listen!
My History teacher (or was it Government?)
was an awesome guy
(so why can't I remember his name?)
who took us tromping through graveyards on field trips.
I dissected a frog in Science class that brothers taught.
(But I can't remember which brother I had!)
And I remember taking a Typing class
(on an actual typewriter, people!)
from a very old nun we affectionately called, "Sister Spit".
I was on the yearbook staff
and worked on the school newspaper.
I still remember the newspaper moderator
(I can picture him but don't remember his name)
telling me I should
think about majoring in Journalism in college.
(And so I did!)
Yes, I graduated from that school of
Brown & Gold
(so why were our uniforms grey and maroon?)
after surviving four long years of
freezing cold football games,
never ending classes,
dances where no one danced,
and making many a soft serve ice-cream cone
at Poor Richard's in Centerville!
I can't remember a word from our fight song.
I can't remember much about the classes I attended.
I can remember some classmates' names;
but not their faces.
I can remember some classmates' faces;
but not their names.
I really, really wish I could go
to our
40th CLASS REUNION,
so I could listen to all the stories that will be told,
reminisce with fellow classmates,
rekindle old friendships,
and remember more of the details from those
long ago years!
Although I will be half a world away
(here in Dubai)
from all my fellow
(here in Dubai)
from all my fellow
ARCHBISHOP ALTER KNIGHTS
this weekend,
I will certainly be at our
40th REUNION
in spirit!
I expect to see lots of pictures posted
in Facebook,
and am keeping my fingers crossed
that someone remembers to put names with all the faces!
There's no denying it....we're 40 years older than we were
back in those good 'ol high school days!
HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY
TO
THE CLASS OF '73
ARCHBISHOP ALTER HIGH SCHOOL!!!
