School Reunion 2010

On the March long weekend, I was lucky enough and privileged enough to attend a gathering of a fairly large group of people with whom I attended school, way back when. We’re the Ol’ 55s…born in1955 and turning 55 this year. We were even lucky enough to have our old headmaster, Arthur Richards, along for the weekend…he started at Albany Senior High School the same year we did, 1968, and he’s now an extremely hale and hearty 88 year old.  But you know what they say: 88 is the new 78, and he certainly doesn’t look 88.  Mind you, if that’s the case, then 55 must be the new 45 and I have to say, we all looked pretty damned good.

It was a wonderful reunion and a terrific weekend…there’s so much more I’d like to say about it but time and circumstances mean I just have to make this a rather large pictorial journey…

I got to make the welcoming speech and a friend suggested I put that up here as well…so I will.

So, here we go…

” I guess the first thing I need to do is to say a very big welcome to you all. It’s a welcome back for the brave souls who took the leap in 1992 and a special welcome to everyone who’s taken the step this time.

I’ve never been one for reunions…. I was asked years ago if I’d ever attend one if someone organized it and my answer was a resounding ‘NO’.  Why would I…I didn’t like school…I wasn’t very good at it and when I’m not good at something, I tend to avoid it like the plague.    So it really was somewhat ironic that I ended up organizing the first one in 1992…and that was thanks to our very own Shirley Parer.  It had been discussed, vaguely, as she has made one attempt to get one organised, but life, family, children etc, got in the way and it was put on the back burner. Would I be interested in picking up where she left off?  Not really…but before I could say no, she flung a rather large envelope at me and said ‘this is where I’ve got with the organising’…and promptly ran away…

I stared at it for many months, trying to muster a little interest and eventually, my curiousity won the day…..

And what an experience that turned out to be… a lot of memories were ignited.  I laughed when I remembered some of the funny times and felt a great sadness for those who hadn’t even made it as far as 36 years old….I started to realize just how lucky my life had been and it sparked something in me that made me very determined not to waste the rest of it and to stop saying ‘ I should…’ and ‘I wish I…’

The reunion was terrific but I never settled down after that and just 6 years later, I was living a new life in Scotland and seven years after that, another new life in Bulgaria.

As I was leaving Australia, I handed that same envelope, albeit a little larger, over the Ann Maria Ladergaard…she was always saying we should have another one, so I told her it was up to her as I wouldn’t be here….

I waited for the email to tell me that reunion mark 2 was happening… not a whisper.

I had to wait until I returned here to Australia ten years later….

and one day, there it was, the email I’d been waiting for informing me that the seed had been planted …all it needed was someone to nurture it and feed it, and reunion number 2 would happen….Oh, and by the way, was I interested in helping organize it…

As I was writing a book at the time and had already turned my thoughts back to returning home to Bulgaria, I politely declined, but thankfully, Shirley was not deterred. She took that seed of an idea and  watered it, fed it and tonight all the care she has given it, has come to fruition……the tree has blossomed…and here we are.  AND I asked if she could get it happening before I headed home, and she hasn’t disappointed me…..

A lot of water has gone under the bridge since school and since the last reunion…we’ve all had our share of joy and our share of sorrow. Some of us have buried partners, lovers, soul mates and some tragically have had to say goodbye to their children…more than one of us has woken up one day, looked at the person sleeping next to us and asked the question’ who is the person and why am I in bed with them?’ and for better or worse, got up out of that bed and walked away to a new life, perhaps new relationships or perhaps just some time alone…

And there are some of us here who are literally fighting for their lives….and some who can’t be here because they have lost that fight…

If there’s nothing else in the world that should inspire us to embrace our life with gusto and live it with passion, then this should be it… we’re all here, now… we have great hopes and optimism for the rest of our lives…let’s not waste it.

I’ve got some toasting and thank yous to do, but before I move on to that there’s a little something else I’d like to say…

There used to be an old fella here in Albany called Harry Riggs…..Harry knew my father when he was alive and used to pop in and visit me at the ABC and have a bit of a yarn.  One day he asked me how old I was. I did that silly thing that we are all inclined to do and told him that women never discuss their age. He wagged his large farmer’s hands index finger at me and said ‘listen to me girlie…” and yes, he was the only man on the planet who got away with calling me girlie…’you should celebrate every day and every birthday like it’s your last…because one day it will be’ and that has become my life philosophy… perhaps there’s a little something in that for all of us. “

OK, let’s start with where the main reunion gathering was held. One of our old schoolies, Rob Lucas, and his very hard working wife Jo,  run Camp Quaranup in Albany and the decision was made to gather there….and what a place to gather:

Here are some of the folk I managed to photograph before I had too much wine 🙂

And then, as always after too much fun, there was the morning after.  Jo Lucas provided the perfect breakfast for a gang of old and bold after a big night out:

A few contemplative moments on the verandahs gazing across at Albany:

And then it was time to return to the real world…

It was interesting, it was extremely enjoyable , it was fabulous…and we must do it again before it’s all floral frocks, harry high pants and mobility scooters…