Looking Back With Fondness

      While cleaning and tossing I came across my high school yearbook. I have a picture of my girl friend tying a bow in a sophomore's hair. I have my commencement graduation notice. I did not remember commencement being held at 8:15 in the evening!?  What's really interesting is that I looked at the first and second honor roll lists and found that some of the people who years later indicated that they were on the honor rolls were not listed.   I found old news items of teachers and school mates engagements and marriages. I have a clipping from showing girls leaving school because of a fire. The article says "More than 1,400 pupils from the all-girl Battin High School... evacuated within 90 seconds...". Wow! We all went out in "orderly fashion". How good were we? But our Principal would have it no other way. LOL   I also found a leaflet from England sent to me by my high school pen pal. I wonder if my friends had a pen pal? I went to the 5 year class reunion and have that paperwork as well. Lots of stuff. How strange to see it again.  Of course, I won't be tossing this out :-) I even have the pieces of the rose each of us carried.   Apparently I was impressed with the fact that I had learned to tint photographs because the whole yearbook is tinted.   I was on the school yearbook art and photography staff; looking at my picture, I look like a real nerd, we all do. I have never seen so many cardigans and plaid skirts.  In my home-room picture I am wearing pearls.  Groan.

I found a more recent card (15 years old) from a former co-worker.  She moved to Maine. Re-reading the card makes me think she and her husband were homesteading or something similar. Thinking back now, it does not surprise me. When she was in Jersey she used to sell fresh eggs (really fresh, they had feathers still attached to the shells) from her small farm. In Maine, it seems that she and her husband had  (or have) a couple of cottages near the water that they were renovating for summer rentals.  She also sold beautiful  handmade Christmas wreaths. I am sorry that we lost contact. She was  talented, funny, charming and just a little off-center. Just the way I like my friends :-)