It was on Wednesday, June 8, 1966 that I walked across the stage in the auditorium of the Pocono Mountain High School in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania and was handed my high school diploma. It was the end of my school years and now I would be going out into the real world. I now had my diploma in my hand along with 127 of my classmates.
I have seen many changes since that day. I spent four years in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Texas, Florida, and the Philippines. I got married to my wife Lina and we have been together almost 45 years, I have two children, five grand kids, and one great grandchild. I have seen the ups and downs of life and realize that life is something to cherish.
I have often thought of many of my classmates through the years. We had a 10 year class reunion and a 25 year reunion. For the last 24 years I have been in touch with only a handful. Through one of my classmates,
Marilou Harps, now MacDonnell, that we contacted each other on classmates.com we got the idea of planning a 50 year class reunion next year. We had no idea if we could find enough to have a reunion when we started. Where were all of our former classmates from many years ago? Thankfully we now have the power of the Internet.
I have searched on Ancestry.com, Peoplefinders.com, US Search.com, through old newspaper clippings of wedding announcements, several other websites and I have now tracked down personally over 50 of my former classmates from 1966. I have been on the phone with several for nearly an hour talking about old times and bringing back memories. I found some of my classmates after getting in touch with another. It has been an undertaking that has taken up much of my time for the last two months. Those phone calls and emails that have got me in touch with classmates of long ago has been one of the most pleasant times of my life.
I have been sad to find out that ten of our classmates that I know of are deceased. I know that a couple of those died very young. I have to sit and think why was their life taken so early? I will never know, but I do know that we have to cherish every day.
When we get together next summer we will all realize that it will most likely be the last time that we will all be able to get together. We are all moving fast toward the seventy year mark of our lives. I know I will shake hands and hug people that meant a lot to me in my young life. Many of us will probably have tears in our eyes as we say goodbye for the last time.
Many of my classmates of 1966 have moved out of the Pocono Mountains. We now have people living in New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Texas, Alaska, Virginia, Maryland, Oregon, Vermont, Connecticut, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and one that has moved to Mexico. I don't know how many more we can find, but we will keep trying.
I want to thank the people that have helped me in my search to make our 50 year class reunion to become a reality. Thank you, Marilou Harps, MaryBeth Wieboldt, Janet Fredmund, Linda Pipher, John H. Davis, and others that have been so helpful. The ones that still live in the Pocono Mountains have been very helpful. To the ones that are deceased you will remain in our hearts forever, you are not forgotten.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
