Monday, August 20: Had one of my best times ever at the lunch yesterday. There were ten of us, all Holy Spirit class of '53, except Betty and me (we were '54); five are also alums of St. James. Besides the two of us, Muckie, and the guest of honor, Gerri F. B., the gang included Margie O.S., Nancy K.F., Maureen W. ?, Mary S. ?, Janet W.P., and Kathy M.S.
I brought my '54 yearbook and one from 1950. After we ate, everybody looked at them, and exclaimed over their own pics as undergrads in 1950 and pictures of siblings and friends in '54. I sat on the end with Kathy M.S. on one side and Margie O.S. on the other, but the whole group managed to talk, laugh, and interact--it was a wonderful outing.
The restaurant itself--Tucker's in Somers Point--was perfect. It's in an old Victorian house, beautifully decorated, and we had a table in a large room which had probably been a back porch, overlooking the bay. The food and service was excellent and reasonably inexpensive. (We each kicked in $24, but several people had dessert and coffee, I had wine, and we were treating Gerri.)
We talked and talked and reminiscenced and laughed over the old stories: the building in the Inlet that no longer exists; the time Gene G. got caught smoking; having to serve in the drum and bugle corps before you could be a cheerleader; Sister Leo, Sister Amobilis, Sister Cletus, and all the rest. I mentioned how I tracked down Sister Gabriel--now Madelaine T. these many years--and how my friend, Pat, had contacted her. Everybody remembered her with great fondness and admiration. Kathy told how my Pat had often driven her father to the TB sanatorium in Glen Gardner and how grateful her family was. Several people still remembered that Gerri and my brother, Frank, had been an item--sixty years ago.
Did they look old? Well, aside from Betty, Muckie, and Gerri, I hadn't seen any of them for 50+ years, so yes, some looked pretty elderly at first. But it's funny: After a half hour or so, they got younger and younger. Margie reverted into the cute little trick she was in high school, Janet seemed to be still dating her Joe, and Kathy--a pretty, slim blonde in her early seventies--became the animated girl she had always been. As the afternoon went on, the soft flesh grew firm, the eyes brightened, and the wrinkles magically smoothed themselves away.
It was a glorious day.