My 45th high school class reunion just took place. MY 45TH CLASS REUNION!! How can it possibly be 45 years since I graduated from high school!? OK, let me check this out. "Get me a piece of paper and a pencil, will you, John?"

We both graduated from high school in 1961, me from NCHS, you from Holy Trinity. We met in 1962 and "went together" for over 4 years. We got married in January of 1967, and our son Andy is 37, our daughter Linda is 32, and our daughter Mary is 24 - oh yeah, I remember how much fun we had at that 20th class reunion! And now we have two wonderful grandchildren under two years old. This number minus this, plus this and this and this equals…OHMYGOSH IT'S TRUE!!"

But the strange thing is, when I'm with my classmates at these reunions, I don't FEEL like a 63-year old woman. I'm transported back to my teens again, with possibly a little more wisdom, a little more patience, a little more grace - and a lot more poundage, wrinkles and ailments. When I was in high school, I knew the names of all my fellow classmates, but I didn't know each of them on a personal basis. I think there were 178 of us, after all. I saw that some were gorgeous and some were handsome, and some were popular, and some were funny, and some were very smart. It was a bit of a struggle to accept that some were gorgeous or handsome AND popular AND funny AND smart. It was probably during those years that I began to realize that life isn't always fair…

I have wonderful memories of NCHS and the teachers there. In Mr. Dively's biology class, I was more intent on learning the poem he'd written on the blackboard than on dissecting the frog's eye. For those of you who care, the poem was this:

      We all have two ends, we must admit.
      With one we think, the other we sit.
      Success depends on which we use.
      Heads you win! Tails you lose.

I recall learning to type with Mrs. Haley and actually practicing in my sleep. Some mornings I'd wake up thinking "j u j space j u j space". I have to admit it came in very handy in my life's work as a secretary, when at the top of my form I could type without error 135 words per minute. However, I can't remember how long ago I was at the top of my form!

Of course, Mrs. Pare's shorthand class was intriguing to me because I saw shorthand as a foreign language. Making those strokes, each representing a word or phrase, was absolute magic to me, and I still use it today at meetings or when I want to catch the lyrics of a song on the radio, or something.

And when I took Latin with Miss Schmid, I was once again enthralled with the sound of those foreign words. To this day "agricolae sunt" is one of my favorite phrases - it means "we are farmers".

You can see that language and words were a big part of my interest, and I dare you to remember the piece you memorized for Colene Hoose from our sophomore literature book. I still remember the piece I chose - a spoonerism entitled "The Loose That Gaid the Olden Geggs." For 47 years now, I have recited that piece all over the place, from the hospital when going into surgery, to entertaining at meetings, to passing it on to a 7th grader who won a blue ribbon at the county literary festival reciting it.

I loved school! I loved MOST of my teachers! And I sure loved my classmates, and I remember their names from clear back in kindergarten when Duane Dungan would sit on the rug with me and hold my hand when Miss Sutherland would read us a story at Normal Central Grade School.

When I see my classmates at these reunions, I not only recall my interaction with them, I recall what was happening at school and in the world, and I can feel the emotions I felt on different occasions, like winning the Homecoming football game, or meeting at Casella's after a game for that first taste of pizza.

I feel very privileged to be able to speak with folks who evoke such wonderful memories, and at this year's reunion I was struck by the obvious - we're really growing up! At this time of our lives most of us have come to understand who we are and what we're here for.

We know it's important to care about and care for one another, and we have a great opportunity to be a positive influence in the lives of our grandchildren. It's great to see that those who were funny in high school are still funny, and the rest of us have joined in that humor. Of course, which of us has NOT learned how important humor is?

I hope that I'm around for our 50th class reunion because I just want to hug each and every one of you and let you know how you've affected my life and my kid's lives. Those of you I knew on a more personal level are part of the many stories I've told them throughout their lives when they'd ask for a "story when you were a kid". I can't wait to make more stories.

Love and God bless,

Judy Kober Hirsch