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| 1997 - 20th reunion for the class of 1977 |
My friend Susan had this photo on her website the other day and it brought back so many memories. It was the 20th reunion of the class of 1977 but they invited a few of us stragglers from the class of 1976. Susan was living in Anchorage at the time and she and her husband came down and I came up from Juneau and we all stayed at Brenda Lanza’s house. The party was at the Totem Bowl restaurant whatever that was called at the time and the event was a lot of fun. It was a beautiful weekend and we all really enjoyed Brenda’s hospitality and her house which was also beautiful. We went up the 33 mile for lunch the next day and spent some time soaking in the sun in Brenda’s yard.
I have a lot of pictures of that weekend that started to materialize in my mind when I saw this one. I remember it like it was yesterday and it seems really hard to believe that it could be 14 years ago. Maybe two or three but fourteen?? So much has changed in all of our lives. Most of us still had two parents. Brenda is no longer married and now lives in Juneau. Susan is married to someone else and lives in Washington. Pam & Lisa both had breast cancer at the time; Lisa was diagnosed with stage I cancer and died a year or two later. Pam was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and is healthy and happily living in Cordova now. Life is so random. Jessie is no longer married and either is Jeff. I was not married at the time and am coming up on my 10th anniversary.
I look at that photo and wonder what happened to those “kids”....we all look so young! It was really a pivotal point between hanging on to our youth and the downhill slide into post middle age. We were on the cusp of turning 40 and at the time I thought 40 was so old!! I’m glad I didn’t know then what challenges I would have to face in the coming years. If I could say anything to the me in that picture it would be to enjoy every moment. Don’t take anything for granted. Be still and thankful as often as possible. Don’t squander your youthful appearance. Mostly though, I'd warn "hang onto your hat, you're in for a wild ride!"
Thank you for your kind words in Susan's blog, about my Haines write up. I LOVED Haines and can't wait to come back and visit again. And that field with the horses (your dad's) was so beautiful. I'm happy you enjoyed the blog and my photos.
ReplyDeleteSusan (in North Pole)
Your photos were really outstanding. Alaska is really a small community isn't it??
ReplyDeleteThe Young and the Restless ... that's us!!! Great post, my friend! I'm so happy we've been able to keep our friendship over all these years even with the many miles between us. I have other photos I'll be digging out soon and posting up with a story or two. Because these are old fashioned photos (printed), I have to take a photo of them to post 'em up. Not sure how else I could do it but it seems to be working just fine.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Yes ... it is a small, small world!
ReplyDelete