Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Gaudeamus Igitur, Iuvenes Dum Sumus

One by one my old classmates are passing away. There were 43 of us in all who graduated together in the spring of 1958, having completed 12 years of public school. Many had been together from the beginning. I joined them in the second year. The first to go was Bruce H., a young Methodist minister who drowned trying to rescue others during a flood. The latest is Robert H., who was getting ready to go home from hospital following successful back surgery when he suffered a massive heart attack last Friday afternoon and died.

In between, there have been:

Patricia K.
Judy G.
Patsy C.
Vonnie F.
Ben N.
Guy A.
Diane H.
Joe S.
Lura Lee C.
Judy W.
Marshall T.

Still among the living:

Pat H.
Pat B.
Darrell R.
Johnny H.
Johnny D.
John G.
Barbara E.
Brenda S.
Roland C.
Jimmie R.
Glynn E.
Kim O.
Bobby A.
Margaret N.
Bobby Ray S.
Faye R.
Judith C.
Mary Jo T.
Sharon S.
Morreta Ann H.
Charles Lee M.
Alene B.
Louise M.
Kent W.
Johnny A.
Sonja S.
Glenda F.
Betty H.
Jerry W.
Mary S.
Danna V.
Elmer W.
Linda H.
Dianne P.
Martha S.
moi

I think that’s just about everybody. I may have left out a name or two inadvertently. If you bother to count, though, you will discover that the list contains more than 43 people. I included a few people in there who never graduated. Still, they were part of the class for many, many years and are included in the get-togethers to this day.

In April 2010, I blogged about our school days and our town here.

And if you are really a glutton for punishment, after you have finished reading all the foregoing you can read about the title of this post here.

6 comments:

  1. There is only one certainty (is that a word?) in life. A sad one. But I'm glad you're in the longest list there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I could no more list the names of my school or college classmates that fly through the air! That in itself is an achievement as far as I can see - as well as avoiding being on the wrong list! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  3. Not only can I not name all 46 of my fellow graduates of the class of 1952, I now remember only a couple of them. I spent just two academic years with them, since we moved to Arkansas during my junior year.

    I enjoyed reading about "Gaudeamus Igitur", etc.

    ReplyDelete
  4. why include those who did not graduate in with those that did, when saying they did

    ReplyDelete
  5. Carolina, me too.

    Jinksy, my insurance salesman told me one time (erroneously, of course) that I have a photogenic mind.

    Pat, I spent my entire childhood with most of those people and, in addition, had no siblings of my own.

    Putz, at least two of the girls were members of the "in" crowd who became cheerleaders popular with the athletes, and even after they dropped out of school they were still part of the "in" crowd (that is, the cheerleaders and the athletes). I myself was never more than an athletic supporter.

    ReplyDelete

<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

We are bombarded daily by abbreviations in everyday life, abbreviations that are never explained, only assumed to be understood by everyone...