Pretty good crowd for a Saturday night (not my first Billy Joel reference of the weekend) |
That impending mortality is part of it. I have lost several friends the past few years--poli sci folks, mostly--and so I wanted to make sure I got to see folks who did make a difference in my life long ago. Sure, high school is 40 years ago, but those four years and the six before them (I lived in that school district from 3rd grade onwards) definitely shaped who I am, and I have a far sharper memory of those years than others. Oh, and there is my FOMO. I didn't want to miss out on whatever I might miss out on. My FOMO was very intense in high school as I felt was in the group of kids who didn't belong to any group, but I am sure folks looked at my group and saw us having group-ness. I was definitely not part of the party scene (well, after my brother stopped having pretty big bashes at our house when I was 12 and 13--my first bartending experience was at one of his parties).
I also went back because it will be the last time I am in that area for the foreseeable future. I was visiting Philly twice a year for the past several years as my mother could no longer travel--Thanksgiving and the summer family trip were always in Philly. So, I embraced the last chance to see the place for some time and to see some of the people I occasionally saw when I was in town. I also had to pick up some stuff I inherited from my mother--some art, a classic chair/ottoman, some kitchen stuff. Oh, and I got to eat a steak sandwich with my sister at a formerly dead ss shop--Jim's! I not only drove past all three of my old schools (see below), but also my old home. Yep, I swam deep in nostalgia.
Upon hearing that I live in Canada, folks thought I might have made the longest trip. No, I was the most foreign, but there were a couple of Californians. I was the only professor in the crowd, which will always strike folks as amusing and ironic--that I liked to talk a lot then (and now) but that I was pretty lazy about my school work. One person did remember that I tended to challenge the teachers, perhaps overthinking stuff. I only one one strange question about Canada--Justin Trudeau's parentage... I had to explain the academic job market to many folks--that my winding path was not the product of any plan--I am glad how things worked out, and I am very happy where I am at.
I appeared on this display in my fave Mr. Bill T-shirt. Yep, we provided our own costumes for that play. |
One of the big surprises was that more than a few of my classmates, including those I hardly ever talked to reported that they read my stuff here, which surprised me. No, I am not surprised that my dad literally printed out every page of my blog (and of my rate my prof page), but I never really thought that those folks way back would be following me here. It was really quite touching to hear that. And, of course, now I am really self-conscious as I write these words.
The only regret I had was that one of our teachers showed up--a guy who barely let me into his AP English class and only after writing an essay on Ethan Frome right before junior year (I still hate that book). Yes, I did summer homework to get into that class. I was glad I did, as I did learn a lot from him, and the other folks in the class were the sharpest kids in school, so I learned a lot from them and had fun. And we did it all again the next year in a class called Humanities, for those who took AP English in 11th grade. I did want to report to him that the guy who barely made it into his class and was a solid B/B+ student has managed to make writing a large part of his career--five books (the latest one is all but processed and published) and counting plus writing here as well. That and I wanted to say hi to his wife who was, um, much younger--someone who had been to least a few of my brother's parties. I was glad to have said hi to my fave history teacher at my 25th--he passed shortly afterwards, so I was glad to have thanked him for his enthusiasm and support for my interest in international relations.
It was just a very sweet evening even though I didn't bring any cookies. There was no ice cream, bice cream or otherwise. [The cake was ok, I didn't try the cookies]. I was most amused that one classmate joked about being annoyed at all of my bice cream pics--that it encouraged bad habits. Wait until she sees the months long baking for this year's cookie-fest. Despite the AC varying in intensity, it was a night full of warmth and good feelings. I am already looking forward to ten years from now.
It was simply LM Middle School back in my day. |
Red Lion, now a library, and formerly a very, very old school for 3rd and 4th grade. Tis where I started at Lower Moreland. The heaters in it made me sick on a regular basis. |
Ye olde LM High School. |
* I once titled a paper on irredentism after this song. Alas, editors hate fun titles.
Awesome post and shared sentiment, Steve!
ReplyDeleteWell done Professor Saideman - one of your biggest fans- thanks for posting :-). Ilean
ReplyDeleteI had my 40th a 11ew years back, It was bittersweet experence. For all of the petty joy I got from talking to the High School Football hero and finding out that he had retired from a secrity guard position, it didn’t make up for finding out that the class president and on of my best friends had finalany died after living on the streets with a mental illness and on of the smartest girls in our class, who was a lawyer was a full-blown 9/11 nut-job.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Steve. I do get to Philly regularly, unfortunately, because my parents are in their 80s and need more help these days, but this wasn't a convenient weekend, and I attended one of these reunions 10 or 15 years ago, and found I had nothing to talk about with the people I hadn't been friends with when we were teenagers, and I honestly don't think that would have changed. But nice to see folks' pictures, and thankful to facebook (in this specific context) for letting me reconnect with you and a number of folks I genuinely liked from high school. You know who you are, if you're in NYC, please drop me a line.
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