Guess I am getting a reputation for being a jet setter or a traveling gadabout because whenever I see people I haven’t seen in awhile, they ask the question, “Where are you traveling next?”
Actually next week I am going to (gasp!) my 50th high school reunion! Yes, so now you can guess how old I am! My saving grace, though, is that all my classmates are the same age, and nobody will have to pretend that we are any younger.
Recently my sister Margo took on the monumental task of scanning all the family photos from my parents’ large collection of photo albums, and these class pictures will show you some of the members of the Class of 1968 I will see at our 50th Reunion. What is so amazing is that in those days, people pretty much stayed put and didn’t move around. Many of my classmates started with me in Kindergarten and went all the way through high school. So some of these people I have known for over sixty years! But outside of a handful of people, it has been fifty years since I’ve seen my classmates.
No problem picking me out, right?! And look at the huge size of those classes!
At Burbank High School I was only one of three Asian students (and no blacks) in a class of over 600 people. I may have mentioned before that I was named the shyest girl in my class! It is true that I felt terribly self-conscious and absolutely refused to raise my hand in class, even though I knew the answers to the question being asked.
Yet despite having the reputation of being a wallflower, people did know me—because of my music. All during high school I was the accompanist for the school choirs. My most memorable moments were sitting in the choir room at the piano, sounding out chorus parts and practicing the accompaniments.
When the Burbank High administration found out I could play the organ, I played the Alma Mater at the end of all school assemblies. In those days the school had a two-manual electronic instrument in the auditorium. I didn’t just play the song for my own grade — I remember being yanked out of class to play the Alma Mater for other grades, too!
Hail, Burbank High School.
The Blue and White wave high;
To our own dear high school,
We raise it to the sky;
All honor to thee we sing,
Oh, long may our praises ring.
Hail, Burbank High School!
Hail! Hail! Hail!
Even after all these years, the melody of that song will forever be part of my psyche.
In 2012, I was asked to take over the class blog. (Yes! I write TWO blogs!) I was told it was because the person from whom I took it over was getting too busy in his retirement—and also because some of my classmates knew from Facebook about this “Insanity” blog. My first post was called “From the shyest person in the class” and now, some six years later, I have written 217 posts about my classmates and what they are doing now fifty years after our high school graduation. Since we announced the 50th reunion a year ago, I have maintained the database of our class, interacting with them when they contacted us, scanning their senior photos from the yearbook, retelling their stories, kept up a Memorial List for classmates who have died, set up a PayPal account, kept track of all the registrations, and have promised to design a memory book of our reunion weekend. At one point, I was spending 10-12 hours a day on Burbank High stuff!
In short, I have become the virtual “lightning rod” for our class. What a transformation from the girl who never wanted to speak up in class, eh?
If you’d like to read my other blog, you can find it here.
Kathy, that was wonderful! And what a great commentary of how we grow and change yet keep our essence! Please know your reunion efforts ARE appreciated!
Kathy, I wish We had been friends in high school; I too was very shy. You are simply remarkable. Your dedication to keeping us connected, your ability to organize our reunion from afar, and your generosity are deeply appreciated. Thank you from the bottom of our aging hearts😘! Love, Donna Canzoneri Wray
Thanks for sharing. I especially enjoyed the fotos. Thanks too for all your work on the bhs blog. Karen Berg