40 yr class reunion

01gentdc

Well-known Member
for those of you that refuse to go to your class reumion , I say GO , you will like them , they improve with age,. there were 238 in the class , 65 of us showed up ,, and I was not the only one that was baling hay or farming that day ,,. we gave watermelons away for the most grandchildren , the most children also.... longest married ...one girl was 41 yrs with a good farm family , fartherest distance was elpaso , tx.. and serveral other mosts I cant recall .. mite have been the beer ,, but I really enjoyed this reunion Far more than any of the others ,, sadly there were 4 within a couple miles of me that chose not to go ,, for all sorts of reasons . 20 were alreagy 6 ft under,,. they had put together a nice memorial corner for all of them yearbook pix ,candles , and flowers ,,. and beautiful white hyndrangus,were everwhere from Dr Fox ;s home , who lost his son in our class a couple yrs ago .just a nice touch all the way around ,,.
 
I went to my 40th in 2011. It was a total waste of time. Don't think I will go to another. There were about 70 out of 650. I did appreciate the efforts of the people who organized it.
 
I have moved on with my life, so do not want to go back, no need to see who has the most hair, best looking spouse or money.
 
As I reported last week, I attended my very first ever class reunion since it was our fiftieth. Out of 50 classmates I think about 8 or 9 have died and around 20 + showed up. Some recognized others I wouldn't have known them from Adam and likewise. I enjoyed it and it was fun, if I'm alive 10 years from now I will go to our 60th. However, once you run out of those "remember the time we did that..." stories, we didn't have much in common and then it was like talking to strangers.

John T
 
For some reason they do not want me to attend but for several years they did ask me to give a donation for the table decorations, I was one of two who achieved a degree beyond BA. and I had the most prosperous business in town. I laugh and smile. I do go to my wife's because I like to see that she has aged better than her classmates, and I dated some of them
 
I went to my 45th in St. Johns, Mi. in 2008, sat with my wife and three women I went to school with. One I had talked to in school and saw her a couple times in town after that, the other I had never talked to. Talked to both of them. The third never shut her mouth. My mother who was still alive at the time ask me how it was. Told her I would go back in another 45 years and let her know.
 
Went to my 60 yr reunion only 3 of us there. 13 in the class, 5 gone, 4 still live less than 10 miles, but don't go.
 
I'm kind of like John T. Don't have anything in common with them anymore. I did go to one early on (10 yrs?) and it was mostly ones who became lawyers handing out their business cards or people bragging about different stuff, trying to "out-success" everyone else. Left and told my wife "never again".
 
Left collage at 15 here at Newark in the UK so when we turned 60 a reunion was arranged. When I arrived and met up with the others I found that out a class of 50 I was one of only 3 still working. I have never spent a night with so many boreing people so full of there own importance in my life. I am an agricultral enginner and the other 2 are farmers and we are all still working 12 years later. MJ
 
I just went to a class reunion this past week end also.
It was for the Grade 12 graduating class of 1962.

It was very nice to see all the old friends again.
I would say about 1/3 of the original class showed up.

I enjoyed the occasion very much.
 
Went to my 25th straight from a week long trail ride, horse hair sweat and all. Most of the front row specials in school were still the same. Holding their fruity drinks with the little pinky out, looking down their nose at others, if they spoke it was just hi. Some had become college professors, some thought they had also, a few still acted like always, I stayed about an hour, got bored and left. Was invited to the 50th, but was helping the neighbor put up hay, and figured I'd enjoy that more and said sorry, can't make it.
 
Because of a misguided guidance counselor, I was mid-year promoted from the 4th to the 5th grades. As a result, I finished out the rest of my schooling as an outcast. My former classmates shunned me. Most likely out of jealousy. I was called many names, the majority of which cannot be spoken in polite company. My new classmates resented the new intruder. I was the little guy in the class. I learned to HATE "sports." The smaller guy (kids grow fast at that age) always gets picked on, and is the last to be chosen. Throughout school, I was ambushed in the bathrooms, ostracized at most social events, chased and occasionally beat up on the way to or from school, and generally tormented through school.
Would I go to a class reunion? >>>>NEVER<<<<< I would eat broken glass before I would want to see any of those people ever again. Not that I really harbor a grudge, but those people are simply not a part of my life. It is as though most of it never happened - until somebody brings up a subject like this.

Perhaps this is a reason why some don't attend these things. Think about it. Were some of the missing people bullied through school? Were some of them bullies? Just a bit of food for thought.
 
When I was in school there was a group of people that thought they were better then most. They were the jocks and the class heads and such. they never associated with me and my friends because we never went out for sports and such. After being out of school for 30 some years I was at a concert and low and behold my seat was in front of a bunch of the goodie two shoes from high school. Guess what the jocks had beer bellies and the hot chicks weren't so hot anymore. There attitudes even changed and they were not snobs any more. So what I am saying is as we get older some people can change so it is a better world.

Bob
 
It has been my observation that for myself and most others, the people you know in high school become totally insignificant after you all move on. They left, I left. Oh, I'll admit it was interesting to go to my 50th and be shocked by the appearance of people who are 50 years older (as they were with me), but it was just an exercise in curiosity-satisfaction.

I have often thought that if we could impress upon our kids just how unimportant their fellow students in high school are going to be to the rest of their lives, they would not get so pressured by the drama of it all and work so hard to conform to the sometimes stupid and misguided "rules" of that little society. I know that the development of socialization skills is important, but not in an environment so toxic that it can lead kids to drug use, criminal activity or even suicide.

If we could just tell our kids, "Look--be true to yourself. Don't ruin your life trying to please a bunch of A-H's you'll never see again after you graduate."
 
Bob, at our reunion the "hot" chicks in high school were no longer, while the plain Janes were now the hotties lol and were still married to their first spouse. Some of the guys gained weight and lost hair, imagine that, they looked like a bunch of darn OLD people............. First thing when we arrived this gal comes up to me n the first wife and says I was her first boyfriend. It was 4H Camp after 6th Grade and the last night at camp we had to march in with and set with a GIRL ewwwwwwwwwwwww lol One gal had a bunch of pics of our 8th grade graduation dance, what a bunch of NERDS.............

Hope to see you and yours in January???

John T
 
Dad retired from the Army and we moved to rural MN. I started my senior year in a very small school, 63 in my class. School in NJ graduated about 1000 kids each year. My new school was very clannish and it was made plain from day one that I was an outsider and wasn't welcomed. I did make a few friends who I still see pretty often. The rest I could care less about. It is funny. Some of my classmates that made it plain to me that I was an outsider now greet me like a long lost friend when I see them in town. So some do change. Still no desire to go to something like a reunion to be reminded what jerks most of them were back then.

Rick
 

What bitter bunch of whinny b]tches . Bitter and holding grudges. Ashamed to shoal as you can't "measure up" ? I'm going to show the rest of you by not showing up. You would be surprised years later to find out some of the burdens and reasons why some people were the way they were . There are other students that think "you had it all" and you are totally unaware.
The fellow students I spent kindergarten to grade 8 with and shared a few classes in high school . We spent more hours with our class mates than our own families. Meet them on the street an we pick up a conversation as if we had just seen each other yesterday .
The township in 2017 is having a 150th so we are planning a reunion now for the same weekend . We even have past students coming that did not even graduate with us due to moving away.
 
(quoted from post at 09:03:18 07/31/15)
What bitter bunch of whinny b]tches . Bitter and holding grudges. Ashamed to shoal as you can't "measure up" ? I'm going to show the rest of you by not showing up. You would be surprised years later to find out some of the burdens and reasons why some people were the way they were . There are other students that think "you had it all" and you are totally unaware.
The fellow students I spent kindergarten to grade 8 with and shared a few classes in high school . We spent more hours with our class mates than our own families. Meet them on the street an we pick up a conversation as if we had just seen each other yesterday .
The township in 2017 is having a 150th so we are planning a reunion now for the same weekend . We even have past students coming that did not even graduate with us due to moving away.

What's bitter? What's whining? Most just stated what happened and why they wouldn't attend. That is after someone else brought the subject up. Haven't seen anyone started a topic like "my class mates were jerks". Please explain why I or anyone else would attend a function designed to bring back memories of what for some wasn't the greatest time of their lives? I had a great time at school in NJ. Out here treated as an outcast not so much. So I exercise my right not to attend. You went to the same school/school system and were life long friends with your classmates. Cool, go, enjoy yourself. The only person that really mattered to me my last year of school I married. I see her every day.

Rick
 
There was hardly anyone I cared about seeing again in high school. Recently I was called up and put on a list to go to a reunion of the kids who lived in the area where my parents used to summer. Nice guy but I didn't know how to tell him that the reason I didn't hang out with them then was because I didn't particularly care for them, so why now. One of the girls I knew, who was a real good friend to me and my future wife, asked if I was going. I told her I didn't want to see her because one of the few fond memories I want to keep from back then was of the incredible stacked blond bombshell she was. None of us look any good anymore after 45 years. As a side note; About 20 years ago I saw some of them at the funeral of one of their mothers. I was shocked that they still had the same hairdews and wore the same style clothes as they did in the early 70s. One of the girls introduced me to her husband and I couldn't help wonder if he had any idea what she used to do back then (as a teen) with just about anyone.
 
at our 10 th one of the class blowhards was bragging how he had married some hot Mexican chick and was manning her families
sring of Mexican food stores.
it was all a big LIE
he was later caught stealing money from the till of one high buds cash register
 
Agree, reunions seem to improve with age. 5 and 10 year, some classmates are still "cocky", then comes 15, 20+ and reality has set in. Divorce, trouble with children, health issues, job loss seems to help us grow up. Regret not attending our 35th but will definitely be at 40th later this month.
 
I've gone to all of mine except the 10th. Our last was the 55th.

They were all interesting. Our class had quite a reputation for being cliquish and snobbish. As the scene unfolded, it was amazing how the classmates who were the big wheels in school fell on their faces as adults and vice versa. The ones who did good as adults were the ones who nobody paid any attention to in school. I'd guess I fell in the middle somewhere.

We have had some who never attended a reunion, even a couple of gals who live right here in the county. I recently talked to the younger brother of one who has never been back and he replied, "When Leroy graduated from high school, he went to California and swore he was never coming back. And he hasn't, not even to visit family".

We should have had a 60th reunion a couple of years ago, but the two gals who had all the records on classmates have passed on and no one else has picked up on it. I tried, but I didn't get anywhere. I'll have to try for a 65th.

As of now, exactly half of the class is gone, 32 out of 64. The first to go was a gal who dropped dead of a heart attack at age 37. Most passed away from natural causes, although one guy was killed in a car accident and another wrapped himself around a light pole on a motorcycle. (To no one's surprise). One gal shot herself.

I think it was about our 40th reunion when everyone dropped all the pretense and braggadocio, came to grips with who they actually were, and faced the fact that they'd gone about as far in life as they were going to.

Enough rambling. I've got work to do.
 
There were 14 in my class (3 boys and 11 girls). I've been out of high school 63 years now and we never had a reunion. If they had, 3 or 4 girls might have shown up, nobody else would have.
 

Buick, even though I don't like your first sentence I do agree with you on the fact that some of the snooty ones were acting out to cover up their insecurities. Where I graduated the entire high school didn't add up to a hundred students. I thought I knew everything about everyone else in school at the time, but through the years I have found how wrong I was about some of them. One girl I'm thinking of was three years ahead of me and a knock out beauty. She always seemed to have her nose n the air. After graduating we both stayed in the area but we never had a good conversation till about thirty years later. I found out they were very poor. Her uncle would sometimes help them out till her dad found another carpentry job. Her classmates could go clothes shopping but she had to wear hand me downs. Come to think of it one of my classmates was in the same type of home situation.

I've been to a few reunions, mainly to let the rest know This one who was on the bottom rung of the ladder in class has grown up, is fairly successful and hasn't grown fat . The old clique still hangs around together and one girl still snubs me but the rest are pretty decent to converse with.
 
Different than several who have responded, I was fortunate to grow up in a very small and surprisingly tight community in west Texas. Our school was so small (it no longer exists--just the building, a national historic site) that we have a whole-community reunion every 2 years. My class (1960) comprised 14 members, 7 girls and 7 boys. Other than one girl, we all started first grade together and literally grew up together. We've lost 4 members, so are not doing too badly. It's a real joy to get together and reminisce, catch up on families, property that has changed hands, etc.
 
Some people grow up years later and some don't....Seems that way with some relatives as well. Things change with age, not meaning the body but the mind and what is really important.
 
Last year was our 55th (1959). Only had 15 in class. Small farming town. At 40th 14 came = at 45th 13 came and on the 50th we had 6. Last year on the 55th we had just 3. Only 2 have passed on out of 15. I like it but that is just me.
 
a lot of truth there goose ,, especially how the whiz kidz fell on their behinds and waited for someone to pull them up ,,.. guys like us learned early to keep on sluggin ,, or at least take a braek gain new perspective and hammer away some more,, started noticing that at 15yrs ,like hey these guys aint going no where like I am ,, whats the problem , at 25 some even noticed me ...lol ,.. at 40 wow , what a change,.,. although some are still snootie but who cares , they seem like they got oldtimers now ,.. you lost half the class in 60 yrs , we lost 10 percent at 40 ,, we are about to run the deep curve... lol,,.. I lost 3 in the last 2 yrs that I never knew passed on , and saw them everyday and loved being with them .. I mentioned the 41 yr farm family marriage ,,. this girl had her 1st child 6 monthes after getting married ,, was kinda plain and rugged tuf , kinda wallflower that never made waves or had to be noticed, but very good warm person,. has 3 girls and 4 boys,.,. her son gives us quite a show each yr at the fair dion demo derby and car rollover, and is a mechanic /welder /logger /farmer and wrestler with his brothers , her F-I-L was a good river farmer that gave us a ride on his 930 case pulling 6 plows when I was about 10,, and you know what after 41 yrs thoat couplew has aged very [politely ,, she is a good lookin lady no worse for wear that beats the heck out of the snottie gals
 
How DARE you call others whiners and such. You got a lot of nerve passing that kind of judgment on others when you don't even know the rest of the circumstances.

I'll start out with this: After being bullied all through junior and senior high school, I have NO DESIRE to see any of the bullies ever again. Holding a grudge? Maybe. They cheated me out of what could have been some of my most cherished memories. Like the junior prom, the senior prom, and even graduation week. I spent graduation week in detention because I finally had enough of one of the bullies, and I cold-cocked him in the hallway after he kept trying to egg me into a fight. He threw the opening 3 strikes. I finally had enough and mopped the floor with him.

I have been reading this forum for several years, and it is really not in my nature to flame other posters, but....
You have proven to me that you are a RUDE, opinionated grouch. If you don't know what the "rest of the story" is, BUTT OUT!!!!!!
 
Go every 5 years, havent missed one since our first in 1977.

And we have started having reunions from my college Ag. Fraternity. But that one is a sort of "anybody come, from any class" Any other FarmHouse guys here?

Or HS was small, 40 graduates, and we generally have 90-95% show up.

Gene
 
LOL. When our town had an all class reunion in 1988 I went up to a classmate of my brother's and said "I haven't seen you in a while...you don't remember me?" She had a puzzled look on her face and then I told her she was in my brothers class. :)
 
Wife and I went to my 55th last weekend 50 people in the class 14 have past on, 12 showed up for the reunion. This week I have to go to her 50th she plans on 60 people showing up. I have to put up with these kids for 3 hours. Two weeks ago it was our 50th wedding anniversary and a lot of people showed up for that. It's been a busy time for us.
 
Just got back from my 40th. There were 50 in our graduating class, of which 22 made it to the reunion. Several of us came from over a thousand miles away, yet there are always a few who don't bother coming even though they live nearby.
 
Just went to our year delayed 40th. 30 in the graduating class 9 showed up, 3 are dead. Of the 9 that showed up they all looked great. I asked a couple teachers to come but did not tell anyone they were a hit. They started teaching when we were in the 9th grade and were a part of out HS life. We did get drilled on who did this and who done that of course none of use knew what they were taking about.... :D

When asked about what I remembered most.

#1 was you were going to have to fight Spencer it was best to go at it and get it over with.

#2 in the 6th grade Jerry got his fill of Spencer and took Spencer on in the bath room... That was ell of a fight both drew blood...

#3 Integrating, we were a small enough group we did not have any issues like they did in the upper class. Most of us had played together while younger and lived in the same community the only time we had issues is when a outsider came in and felt the need to show how tuff he was...
 
My 40th was last month, I didn't go just like I haven't been to the rest of them. I moved to a new school in the middle of my Jr. year so I only had a few close friends that I still see often. The school that I moved from has had several reunions but I find out about them after the fact, I may be too Caucasian for them. I really didn't like HS and have moved on. I really don't see the appeal for class reunions but if that's your thing by all means attend.
 
I have not gone to any of my classes reunions. I was looked down on because I was working in high school. None ever dared to taunt me about it but they made it well known I was beneath their station. Then after my wife and I got married they delighted in spreading the rumor that we "had" to get married. It was kind of funny that my oldest was born 2 years after we where married. So no THANK you to seeing that bunch again.

It is kind of funny how some of the worst offenders are blind to the fact that those they treated bad still remember it 45 years later. One of these runs a agri supply business in the next town west of me. HE tries every few years to get us to by from him. I told the boys it will never happen as long as I am alive. HE just does not get it.
 
I feel fortunate to have been a member of a class that, no matter the differences we might have had can come together and just have a real good time.

I missed my 10th and 15th reunions due to a conflict of schedule but have attended my 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th, 40th and 41st.

We're having our 42nd this September.

You see we have so much fun we decided to not wait 5 years and for now are having a reunion every year that is actually used as a fund raiser for charity. last year we raised over $2500.00 for an adoption assistance charity that is all volunteer that pays out 100% of donations.

For those that have Facebook here is the link to our class reunion page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/404714119612561/

25268.jpg
 
Our 40th is this year, and I won't be going for a number of reasons:
1) there is no one to cover my chores for me to take a day off.
2) of the nearly 250 who graduated HS in my class, I kept up with 1 other class misfit for about a year, and once out in the real world, realized he was not someone I needed or wanted as a friend.
3) I moved shortly after HS, and thankfully have yet to meet anyone I graduated with.
4) I've had no reason to go to any of the others over the years, and have no intention or desire to change that, not even to accept apologies for the way they treated the dozens of other misfits like me.
5) Along with forgiving, is forgetting, and I've long ago done both. There is no need to revisit the past, nor drag it into the present.

There are more good reasons, but I need to get back out to do some evening chores.
 
My 45th is coming up I will not be there. Grudge you bet! School was the worst years of my life. Learned more in the 4 years after graduation then I ever learned in school. If I saw a classmate bleeding on the side of the road.....doubt I would stop. If I had a young family they would be home-schooled
 
I haven't missed any of ours, looking forward to our 55th next year. We have had a re-union every 5 years and I've had a good time at all of them, and we've all done some living since high school so that's what it is about. All of that clique stuff died about 20 years after we graduated, life equalized those things. Those that still live close get together every month for lunch, and even though it's 380 mile round trip I make about one a year. Not a big class, just over 100. And no, I wasn't a stud or a football star, just a farm boy with a pretty fast Norton motorcycle and the social skills of a grapefruit. Just my opinion.
 
(quoted from post at 15:27:51 07/31/15) How DARE you call others whiners and such. You got a lot of nerve passing that kind of judgment on others when you don't even know the rest of the circumstances.

I'll start out with this: After being bullied all through junior and senior high school, I have NO DESIRE to see any of the bullies ever again. Holding a grudge? Maybe. They cheated me out of what could have been some of my most cherished memories. Like the junior prom, the senior prom, and even graduation week. I spent graduation week in detention because I finally had enough of one of the bullies, and I cold-cocked him in the hallway after he kept trying to egg me into a fight. He threw the opening 3 strikes. I finally had enough and mopped the floor with him.

I have been reading this forum for several years, and it is really not in my nature to flame other posters, but....
You have proven to me that you are a RUDE, opinionated grouch. If you don't know what the "rest of the story" is, BUTT OUT!!!!!!

Dont pay any attention to him, if people like you didnt go to reunions, people like him wouldnt have anybody to brag to and blather on about how smart they are. He [b:44a5934e2c][i:44a5934e2c]needs[/i:44a5934e2c][/b:44a5934e2c] people like you to stroke his ego and if you dont go, he has nothing. Why do you think every time reunions come up on the boards, he tries SOOOOOO hard to get people to go? Because people get sick of him and he craves an audience. Heck, look at this website, membership must be over 10,000, maybe many more than that and I cant count on one hand how many friends he has here. [b:44a5934e2c][i:44a5934e2c]Nobody[/i:44a5934e2c][/b:44a5934e2c] likes him and few can tolerate him. If he didnt have some wanted info about JDs, he would always be talking to himself. Dont believe me? Just ask an electrial question, nobody listens to him because there are quite a few people that can explain it and nobody wants to pay the tax of having to put up with him... but yet he still answers to himself. Its strange.... but funny and even more sad. But I always gotta remember, he brings it on himself.

Nobody in their right mind would hold it against you for not wanting to go to a reunion. No sane person would ever think you are trying to hurt others by witholding your presence at a reunion (and for the record, that could be the stupidist thing I have ever heard). For the most part, nobody cares if you go or not because going to a reunion is a personal decision.



FWIW, I dont go to reunions because I just dont care. I just dont care what my junior high locker partner did since we graduated. I didnt much care what he did when we hit high school and everybody got single lockers, why would I care now?

I really dont care to go to a reunion just to get a chance to talk to some people that may have snubbed me so many years ago... or maybe I snubbed them. Point is, I wouldnt get anything out of talking to those strangers at this point in my life just because we shared a school or class in our youth. I have sat next to people at the bar, out to dinner, people I meet through work or even just on the street that I have talked with and thought they were fascinating, people I could have talked to for hours. People whos life, I would have paid to read their life story but not one of them graduated with me. And dispite having a great meal and conversations with these strangers, some that I will remember for the rest of my days, I would never try to rekindle that moment in time. It was great but its over and Im on to the next great moment, not trying to relive a memory.

If you were so close to these people from school, why have you waited 20, 30 or eve 50 years to see them again? Thats crazy. The people I liked and hung around with, I still see and talk to. Some moved away (I stayed pretty close) but they come home to see family, of which they consider me, so we see each other then. In that respect, its no different than back in high school, we meet back at their parents house and we hang out. We dont have to sneek beer in the basement though, we sit at the kitchen table. And in my friends absence, I stop by and help the parents with some of the heavy lifting and other things they cant do. I hope my friends appreciate the help so they dont have to drive home but I know the parents are grateful.

I really have no interest in going to see people that were not nice to me and brag about my life just to "get even". I got a great life, no doubt about it. If it could get any better, I would work to get it there, I really dont have any work to do though. But I dont see any need to flaunt it to anybody I knew years ago in school. Nor do I want to hear anybody else that I went to school with and really dont care about, try to convince me that they got the cat by the tail. If they are happy, thats great but I really dont need to hear about it because... well I really dont care that much.

Whats more, I would rather remember some people in the prime of their lives. Face it, some peaked at 15 but didnt know it till they were 30. Some people lived their life as a lie but the town knew the truth. I would rather remember them at their best. I have no interest in hearing about the 4 divorces, 8 kids (of which only 3 talk to them), no job lasting more than 2 years (and thats not because they were good and moved up if you know what I mean). I really dont want to hear how Bayside Manor is a nicer mobile home park that Parkwood Estates and how the owner of Bayside owes you money for whatever. I just dont want to hear it, its sad. And no, when I get up to get a refreshment, you dont need to save my seat next to you so we can "finish catching up", Im not comming back to talk to you.... ever. I will chew my arm off before I let you latch on to me like your latest BadgerCare head shrink, go call Dr Phil and leave me alone.

Am I suspose to feel bad because I dont want to go to a reunion? To me, its no different than a movie. Both cost about the same money and fairly close to the same time commitment. Is it worth it? Not to me, its like Snakes on a Plane to me, Im just not interested.

John T, like he does so often, hit the nail on the head. After the "remember whens" are over, I just dont have anything in common with these people. Why would I want to go spend time with any of them?
 
Well, said JD. Didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't do drugs and was a farmer boy. Couldn't get much further out of the "In Crowd" than that.
 
JD, I had similar things happen to me, never forget some cruelty and thoughtlessness. But I always go, and a small part of going is to see the hillbillies they have turned out to be. The less said the better, but I just smile now. I will say this, there's one guy, if he ever calls me that nick-name again, he'll get backed up into a corner and get a finger jabbed in his chest and get it explained to him. But I just smile at them now.
 
Friend of mine went to his 40th reunion and was looking around for the prettiest girl in his class. She didn't seem to be present. He sat down at the banquet next to an old gal and he asked her if she'd seen this girl there. The woman looked at him, gave him a toothless grin and said: "I hate to tell you this but you're looking at her". Pretty funny. He never went back. Sometimes, you just can't relive the past. (;>))
 
(quoted from post at 16:27:51 07/31/15) How DARE you call others whiners and such. You got a lot of nerve passing that kind of judgment on others when you don't even know the rest of the circumstances.

I'll start out with this: After being bullied all through junior and senior high school, I have NO DESIRE to see any of the bullies ever again. Holding a grudge? Maybe. They cheated me out of what could have been some of my most cherished memories. Like the junior prom, the senior prom, and even graduation week. I spent graduation week in detention because I finally had enough of one of the bullies, and I cold-cocked him in the hallway after he kept trying to egg me into a fight. He threw the opening 3 strikes. I finally had enough and mopped the floor with him.

I have been reading this forum for several years, and it is really not in my nature to flame other posters, but....
You have proven to me that you are a RUDE, opinionated grouch. If you don't know what the "rest of the story" is, BUTT OUT!!!!!!

Boo-Hoo for you. If you look like food, you will be eaten. I have not seen it written anywhere that life is fair. Sometimes you get a slice of pie, a big slice of pie or no pie.
I was picked on regularly due to being Autistic enough to be book smart, technical smart and set some school athletic records but slow to or miss picking up on normal social cue and clues. Those that did not take the warning to "back off" learned to "back off". If you don't respect yourself, nobody else will either.
Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and expecting your enemy to become ill.
 
(quoted from post at 23:09:29 07/31/15)
(quoted from post at 15:27:51 07/31/15) How DARE you call others whiners and such. You got a lot of nerve passing that kind of judgment on others when you don't even know the rest of the circumstances.

I'll start out with this: After being bullied all through junior and senior high school, I have NO DESIRE to see any of the bullies ever again. Holding a grudge? Maybe. They cheated me out of what could have been some of my most cherished memories. Like the junior prom, the senior prom, and even graduation week. I spent graduation week in detention because I finally had enough of one of the bullies, and I cold-cocked him in the hallway after he kept trying to egg me into a fight. He threw the opening 3 strikes. I finally had enough and mopped the floor with him.

I have been reading this forum for several years, and it is really not in my nature to flame other posters, but....
You have proven to me that you are a RUDE, opinionated grouch. If you don't know what the "rest of the story" is, BUTT OUT!!!!!!

Dont pay any attention to him, if people like you didnt go to reunions, people like him wouldnt have anybody to brag to and blather on about how smart they are. He [b:3eb4775c1e][i:3eb4775c1e]needs[/i:3eb4775c1e][/b:3eb4775c1e] people like you to stroke his ego and if you dont go, he has nothing. Why do you think every time reunions come up on the boards, he tries SOOOOOO hard to get people to go? Because people get sick of him and he craves an audience. Heck, look at this website, membership must be over 10,000, maybe many more than that and I cant count on one hand how many friends he has here. [b:3eb4775c1e][i:3eb4775c1e]Nobody[/i:3eb4775c1e][/b:3eb4775c1e] likes him and few can tolerate him. If he didnt have some wanted info about JDs, he would always be talking to himself. Dont believe me? Just ask an electrial question, nobody listens to him because there are quite a few people that can explain it and nobody wants to pay the tax of having to put up with him... but yet he still answers to himself. Its strange.... but funny and even more sad. But I always gotta remember, he brings it on himself.

Nobody in their right mind would hold it against you for not wanting to go to a reunion. No sane person would ever think you are trying to hurt others by witholding your presence at a reunion (and for the record, that could be the stupidist thing I have ever heard). For the most part, nobody cares if you go or not because going to a reunion is a personal decision.



FWIW, I dont go to reunions because I just dont care. I just dont care what my junior high locker partner did since we graduated. I didnt much care what he did when we hit high school and everybody got single lockers, why would I care now?

I really dont care to go to a reunion just to get a chance to talk to some people that may have snubbed me so many years ago... or maybe I snubbed them. Point is, I wouldnt get anything out of talking to those strangers at this point in my life just because we shared a school or class in our youth. I have sat next to people at the bar, out to dinner, people I meet through work or even just on the street that I have talked with and thought they were fascinating, people I could have talked to for hours. People whos life, I would have paid to read their life story but not one of them graduated with me. And dispite having a great meal and conversations with these strangers, some that I will remember for the rest of my days, I would never try to rekindle that moment in time. It was great but its over and Im on to the next great moment, not trying to relive a memory.

If you were so close to these people from school, why have you waited 20, 30 or eve 50 years to see them again? Thats crazy. The people I liked and hung around with, I still see and talk to. Some moved away (I stayed pretty close) but they come home to see family, of which they consider me, so we see each other then. In that respect, its no different than back in high school, we meet back at their parents house and we hang out. We dont have to sneek beer in the basement though, we sit at the kitchen table. And in my friends absence, I stop by and help the parents with some of the heavy lifting and other things they cant do. I hope my friends appreciate the help so they dont have to drive home but I know the parents are grateful.

I really have no interest in going to see people that were not nice to me and brag about my life just to "get even". I got a great life, no doubt about it. If it could get any better, I would work to get it there, I really dont have any work to do though. But I dont see any need to flaunt it to anybody I knew years ago in school. Nor do I want to hear anybody else that I went to school with and really dont care about, try to convince me that they got the cat by the tail. If they are happy, thats great but I really dont need to hear about it because... well I really dont care that much.

Whats more, I would rather remember some people in the prime of their lives. Face it, some peaked at 15 but didnt know it till they were 30. Some people lived their life as a lie but the town knew the truth. I would rather remember them at their best. I have no interest in hearing about the 4 divorces, 8 kids (of which only 3 talk to them), no job lasting more than 2 years (and thats not because they were good and moved up if you know what I mean). I really dont want to hear how Bayside Manor is a nicer mobile home park that Parkwood Estates and how the owner of Bayside owes you money for whatever. I just dont want to hear it, its sad. And no, when I get up to get a refreshment, you dont need to save my seat next to you so we can "finish catching up", Im not comming back to talk to you.... ever. I will chew my arm off before I let you latch on to me like your latest BadgerCare head shrink, go call Dr Phil and leave me alone.

Am I suppose to feel bad because I don't want to go to a reunion? To me, its no different than a movie. Both cost about the same money and fairly close to the same time commitment. Is it worth it? Not to me, its like Snakes on a Plane to me, Im just not interested.

John T, like he does so often, hit the nail on the head. After the "remember whens" are over, I just don't have anything in common with these people. Why would I want to go spend time with any of them?

Hazard to guess just how much I care about a small close minded person's opinion like yours? You worry too much about what other people think. Are you so conceited to think that you are on the forefront of everybody else's minds.
 
(quoted from post at 08:23:14 07/31/15) Because of a misguided guidance counselor, I was mid-year promoted from the 4th to the 5th grades. As a result, I finished out the rest of my schooling as an outcast. My former classmates shunned me. Most likely out of jealousy. I was called many names, the majority of which cannot be spoken in polite company. My new classmates resented the new intruder. I was the little guy in the class. I learned to HATE "sports." The smaller guy (kids grow fast at that age) always gets picked on, and is the last to be chosen. Throughout school, I was ambushed in the bathrooms, ostracized at most social events, chased and occasionally beat up on the way to or from school, and generally tormented through school.
Would I go to a class reunion? &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;NEVER&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt; I would eat broken glass before I would want to see any of those people ever again. Not that I really harbor a grudge, but those people are simply not a part of my life. It is as though most of it never happened - until somebody brings up a subject like this.

Perhaps this is a reason why some don't attend these things. Think about it. Were some of the missing people bullied through school? Were some of them bullies? Just a bit of food for thought.

I feel sorry for you.
 
(quoted from post at 13:27:51 07/31/15) How DARE you call others whiners and such. You got a lot of nerve passing that kind of judgment on others when you don't even know the rest of the circumstances.

I'll start out with this: After being bullied all through junior and senior high school, I have NO DESIRE to see any of the bullies ever again. Holding a grudge? Maybe. They cheated me out of what could have been some of my most cherished memories. Like the junior prom, the senior prom, and even graduation week. I spent graduation week in detention because I finally had enough of one of the bullies, and I cold-cocked him in the hallway after he kept trying to egg me into a fight. He threw the opening 3 strikes. I finally had enough and mopped the floor with him.

I have been reading this forum for several years, and it is really not in my nature to flame other posters, but....
You have proven to me that you are a RUDE, opinionated grouch. If you don't know what the "rest of the story" is, BUTT OUT!!!!!!

Jimg I feel soory for you. You are always flaming other posters.
 
(quoted from post at 23:19:57 07/31/15) Well, said JD. Didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't do drugs and was a farmer boy. Couldn't get much further out of the "In Crowd" than that.

Cut my social circle down real small too. I did have $$$ for vehicles and an education that they did not.
 
I have been to a few. A couple years ago I went to my 45th. I had a good time, talked with a bunch of old classmates. I have no standing that allows me too look down my nose at anyone, and no one made me feel like they were looking down their nose at me. One of the best things was sitting next to the girl who was my first girl friend back in first grade. I can still remember going to her house back then. She died since the reunion, so I have that conversation with her to cherish.

PS. This is one of those rare times that I agree with B&amp;D.
 
(quoted from post at 16:42:36 08/01/15) Hazard to guess just how much I care about a small close minded person's opinion like yours?

Nobody cares what you think, dont you get it yet?


(quoted from post at 16:42:36 08/01/15) You worry too much about what other people think.

I dont care what others think and I made that quite clear above in my explanation of why I dont go to reunions. I just dont care. I know that bothers you because people like me simply dont show up when you are busting with desire to try to do what you could never do back in high school, actually attempt to be normal and a part of the group. Guess what buddy, you are not either and people like me simply dont care to be around people like you. Do you get it yet?

(quoted from post at 16:42:36 08/01/15) Are you so conceited to think that you are on the forefront of everybody else's minds.

Im not conceited in the least. I have no illusions that I am in the forefront of anybodys mind, in fact Im sure I occupy a similar space with my old classmates as they do in my mind (basically nowhere). Im quite sure they rarely, if ever, think about me which is the same as I do about them. Like I said, the people I cared about I still see and talk to. Why would I want to go see people I didnt ever talk to or like? I know why you do it, desperately trying to turn back time and somehow make yourself relevant but the sad fact is, it dont work. DId you know that as soon as you walk away, everybody in the group gives each other that knowing look? Do you know what look Im talking about? Of course not because you never had (and still dont) have any friends to exchange that look with. Well let me expain it to you, ah forget it, you just wont ever understand it or have the need to use it (because its a non verbal cue typically used with friends).

Face it, even on the internet with printed words rather than spoken exchanges, you still just dont get it and dont fit in. I feel sorry for you, I really do but in the end there is nothing I can do for you because you do it to yourself. Its your actions, nobody elses, that cause you to be the outcase. While Im sure you have a great time every 10 years, maybe even every 5 when you get to see people that really dont care about you, others in your class actually like each other an see each other weekly. Think about it....
 
(quoted from post at 19:36:21 08/01/15)
(quoted from post at 16:42:36 08/01/15) Hazard to guess just how much I care about a small close minded person's opinion like yours?

Nobody cares what you think, don't you get it yet?


(quoted from post at 16:42:36 08/01/15) You worry too much about what other people think.

I don't care what others think and I made that quite clear above in my explanation of why I don't go to reunions. I just don't care. I know that bothers you because people like me simply don't show up when you are busting with desire to try to do what you could never do back in high school, actually attempt to be normal and a part of the group. Guess what buddy, you are not either and people like me simply don't care to be around people like you. Do you get it yet?

(quoted from post at 16:42:36 08/01/15) Are you so conceited to think that you are on the forefront of everybody Else's minds.

Im not conceited in the least. I have no illusions that I am in the forefront of anybody's mind, in fact Im sure I occupy a similar space with my old classmates as they do in my mind (basically nowhere). I'm quite sure they rarely, if ever, think about me which is the same as I do about them. Like I said, the people I cared about I still see and talk to. Why would I want to go see people I didn't ever talk to or like? I know why you do it, desperately trying to turn back time and somehow make yourself relevant but the sad fact is, it don't work. Did you know that as soon as you walk away, everybody in the group gives each other that knowing look? Do you know what look Im talking about? Of course not because you never had (and still don't) have any friends to exchange that look with. Well let me explain it to you, ah forget it, you just wont ever understand it or have the need to use it (because its a non verbal cue typically used with friends).

Face it, even on the internet with printed words rather than spoken exchanges, you still just don't get it and don't fit in. I feel sorry for you, I really do but in the end there is nothing I can do for you because you do it to yourself. Its your actions, nobody else's, that cause you to be the outcast. While Im sure you have a great time every 10 years, maybe even every 5 when you get to see people that really don't care about you, others in your class actually like each other an see each other weekly. Think about it....

Given the length, detail and passion in your continuing post. These issues mean a great deal to you. I wish you the best working them out. In particular the "don't and didn't". Have you counted how many times you used such negativity? You will be happier after coping with such.
 
(quoted from post at 18:42:26 08/01/15) Given the length, detail and passion in your continuing post. These issues mean a great deal to you.

Nah, reunions mean nothing to me, I only got involved in this thread because you were bulling jimg.allentown. I didnt think it was right to comment in the thread without putting in my opinion on the subject at hand.


(quoted from post at 18:42:26 08/01/15)I wish you the best working them out.

Thanks for the well wishes but I have nothing to work out, it doesnt bother me and I simply dont care. Thats what bothers you the most, isnt it, just when you think you are getting over your problems and wanting to relive the past by proving to people like me that you might be a somebody, we stay home and again ignore you. Me responding to you in this thread is the best thing that has happened to you in weeks, maybe even months. You're welcome.


(quoted from post at 18:42:26 08/01/15)In particular the "don't and didn't". Have you counted how many times you used such negativity? You will be happier after coping with such.

Now, go upstairs and ask your Mommie what I mean by the following sentences: Never confuse apathy with negativity, huge difference....

Using "dont" and "didnt" does not indicate mood or feeling toward a subject.

I think you are 2 people...
 
I think you are 2 people...[/quote]

I went to the Medicine Man with my problems . He said, son what is the matter? I told him that sometimes I think that I am a teepee. Other times I think that I am a wigwam. "Ah" said the Medicine Man, I think you are two tense.
 
(quoted from post at 19:13:47 08/01/15) I went to the Medicine Man with my problems . He said, son what is the matter? I told him that sometimes I think that I am a teepee. Other times I think that I am a wigwam. "Ah" said the Medicine Man, I think you are two tense.

Just so you know, people are making that knowing look behind your back again. Im sure you are used to it.... because you have never seen it.
 
(quoted from post at 14:35:18 08/01/15)
(quoted from post at 16:27:51 07/31/15) How DARE you call others whiners and such. You got a lot of nerve passing that kind of judgment on others when you don't even know the rest of the circumstances.

I'll start out with this: After being bullied all through junior and senior high school, I have NO DESIRE to see any of the bullies ever again. Holding a grudge? Maybe. They cheated me out of what could have been some of my most cherished memories. Like the junior prom, the senior prom, and even graduation week. I spent graduation week in detention because I finally had enough of one of the bullies, and I cold-cocked him in the hallway after he kept trying to egg me into a fight. He threw the opening 3 strikes. I finally had enough and mopped the floor with him.

I have been reading this forum for several years, and it is really not in my nature to flame other posters, but....
You have proven to me that you are a RUDE, opinionated grouch. If you don't know what the "rest of the story" is, BUTT OUT!!!!!!

Boo-Hoo for you. If you look like food, you will be eaten. I have not seen it written anywhere that life is fair. Sometimes you get a slice of pie, a big slice of pie or no pie.
I was picked on regularly due to being Autistic enough to be book smart, technical smart and set some school athletic records but slow to or miss picking up on normal social cue and clues. Those that did not take the warning to "back off" learned to "back off". If you don't respect yourself, nobody else will either.
Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and expecting your enemy to become ill.

B&amp;D, most of us don't hold a grudge about what happened years ago. I don't. No one picked on or bullied me, they just made it clear that I was an outsider and wasn't welcome. I did have several friends and dated a couple of girls but was shunned by most of the others because I wasn't from here. Most of my friends I'm still in contact with and I have no burning need to see the others. Not to spite them. Just no desire. I see Dean, Art, Mike and a couple of others several times a year if not more often. My wife I see daily. One of the girls I dated still lives here, widowed now for 10 years or so and I see her from time to time too. The rest? I don't know and don't care. I attended HS here from Sep 72 to graduation May 1973. So I knew most of my classmates 9 months. Not like I grew up with them. Had I grown up with them things would be different and it would be fun to see them. Heck my dad bought this place in 72. It took the locals 20 years before they stopped referring to it as the "old Koep" place and started referring to it by our last name. Should give you an idea of how closed minded these people were up here.

As far as my classmates, some have done well others not so good. One is the county drunk. Another became as NASA engineer. The Val Victorian of my class received an appointment to West Point and flunked out in the first semester. He went on to get a college education and has been successful. Another started farming with his dad. They went broke during the 80's farm crisis. My friends keep me posted even if I don't care. They did grow up with everyone but me. I don't tell them I don't care because that would hurt them. I just don't go to the reunions. I made my own way after school and retired at 48. Not rich by any means but not hurting either. So I have time to visit those who I wish to see and the right to not visit with those I don't want too. No grudge, just no desire.

Rick
 
This issue, as clearly demonstrated by the many postings showing a variance of opinions, needs to be studied and I mean studied in depth. I propose that we form a committee and petition the congress of the United States to fund an in depth, exhaustive, and complete study of this important matter . It cries out for an answer and many people are obviously stymied by it. The sooner we get started, the better. (;>))
 
Wow. I see some folks are nearly or even moreso as passionate about their highschool experiences as they are about their tractor color. (It's about time tractors were mentioned in this thread.)

Bill(Wis), actually there was a study done on our class some years ago, because of all the graduating classes of our district ours was by far the least cohesive (ever), and as of that time, the class had yet to pull off a 'successful' reunion. I got a postpaid questionaire asking about our high school experience as part of that study, and I don't think I even bothered to send it back. Not sure what the number crunchers got from that dataset. Insufficient sample size? lol

BTW, I think "successful" is defined as at least 10-15% participation, i.e.: 25-38 out of a class of 250 is a pretty low bar to clear.
 
I went to my tenth. Glad I did. One of the guys (who I cannot for the life of me remember) just had his wife leave him and I was having a rough time with some stuff. The "prettiest" girl in the class (she may have been responsible for a large portion of Avon's profits in those days) sat next to me and asked me questions about work and the places I've seen. And I know I spoke exactly 11 words to her in 6 years of high school.

The real a-holes who made me really hate school were in the grade above us. I Was just so busy avoiding anything to do with school back then that I couldn't see it. Actually wasn't such an outcast senior year.

Missed the 15 year last year. I think I would have had a good time. But I probably wouldn't have stuck around for the.whole thing. It started out family friendly but after a few hours it devolved into another high school beer party complete with pabst. By design of those who organized it. Which wasn't much of a surprise.

Pabst? Really? 15 years out and we still can't afford anything better?

Worst part of missing it is that the morning my dog got run over we should have been in Illinois instead of at home.
 
Boy oh Boy If you had of looked back during those days you would have seen me in your tracks. Yes the guidance counselor and all. The one man in all the world that I hoped spent a miserable life and suffered plenty. What a thing to say. 75 now and retired from the teamsters union for 10 years now. Live in Fl and life is great.
 
Never have been to a class reunion and never will...I'd much rather go to a tractor show,tractor pull,or an auction...
 

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