Old friends

Paul and I headed south Thursday for my 50th high school reunion over the weekend.  The weather was less than ideal but the fall colors are more vibrant when it's gloomy.  Friday night was a "meet and greet" and Saturday was a dinner/dance, both in the hotel.  Paul and I drove around the area Saturday and took a walk along the C&O Canal Towpath near Great Falls.  The area has just exploded development-wise, but I managed to show him our high school and old house.   Driving around "civilization" always makes us happy to live in peaceful Vermont.  How do people there put up with all the traffic and chain stores?

It was good to connect with a few old friends.  Our class had over 600 people, so there were lots of nice people I never really got to know.  In those days, "tracking" kept kids pretty much together by test scores and abilities.  College prep people rarely shared classes with vocational students, etc.  Here are Betsy, Bruce, Eileen, and me (far left).  We have known each other since 8th grade.  Even though time has flown, we pretty much just picked up where we left off together.  That was really special.  I missed seeing Nancy and will send a note to see if she's OK.  I was also happy to see George who used to live in Vermont but returned "home" over 30 years ago. 

Sunday morning, we headed to the Harrisburg, PA, area to visit my college friend Madelyn, her husband Jim and their son Brian.   I only recently learned that Madelyn is very ill, so that made this an important visit.  I regret that we haven't spent a lot of time together over the years.  Both of us were busy with careers and family.   We did enjoy a couple of fun times more recently when we met at Weston Playhouse where Brian was performing.   Looking frail, Madelyn did perk up as we talked, and we headed home, glad we had come and hoping that the treatment will continue positively.  The ride home was nice as the fall colors began to pop over the last few days.