I got a notice for a high school reunion the other day.
Forty-five years!
As my darling wife of thirty-nine of those would say, “That’s almost forty!”
I wouldn’t have thought too much about the amount of time that has passed since my days at good old Southeast High until Classmates.com contacted us about trying out their website.
Sounded like fun so we said yes, and then started figuring just how long it had been since we graduated.
Veronica seemed to feel that the five years between us gave her some room for poking fun, but I thought it might give me a chance to catch up with some old friends and reacquaint with acquaintances before the big reunion.
I jumped online and made a profile.
It was simple; I just uploaded a current photo (and an old one, just to remind people what I used to look like) and wrote a little bit about what has happened in my life over all those years.
While I was going through my old pictures I found a few that I knew I should keep in some special way. The best thing I could think of was to have them made into the best custom canvas prints that will last a lifetime.
After that, I entered my school and graduating class and, viola!
Up popped my Golden Buffaloes yearbook.
I immediately remembered the cover and the name, Hoofbeats.
I could look through it online, but there was also an offer to buy a hard copy of the yearbook if I wanted one.
Of course, the first thing I did was look up my yearbook picture… O. M. G.!
Well, what can I say; it was the seventies after all, as if that made it okay to walk around with hair like that.
As I continued paging through the book, I found myself reminiscing down memory lane.
I looked up my favorite teacher, Mr. Hodges, who we always called Hodgy-baby.
I had also forgotten that our Golden Buffaloes won the State Championship in football my senior year.
Digging deeper, I found a picture of myself where I didn’t look like a complete geek.
It even looked like I might have been studying.
No, wait, on closer inspection it looks as though I might be asleep in an upright position.
A more likely scenario if my memory serves.
By now I was pretty much hooked, and everything I had been doing was free of charge, but by upgrading to a Classmates+ membership I could really start connecting with my old friends.
This way I could leave messages, share pictures, and get email updates to see who had visited my profile.
I browsed through and left a number of hellos along the way. It’s so easy to find old friends since you can search by maiden name.
That’s how I found my old best friend’s girlfriend, who is now his wife.
I had lost touch with them years ago so I wrote her a message. After a few days I got an email saying that she had replied. So I logged on and we conversed several times over the next few days through the website.
Now that we have caught up, we plan to meet in person next time we are in their hometown.
That experience got me thinking about my own high school sweetheart—the four of us were thick as thieves back in the day—but she was a class ahead of me so wasn’t in my yearbook.
That’s when I noticed that I could see books from other years too, so I looked back one year and found my girlfriend in the class of ’76.
Then it hit me—my chance for redemption! Perhaps my junior year picture was not as pathetic as my senior photo. No such luck.
That seventies hair was every bit as bad, if not worse, in this one.
That got me thinking, if ever there was a quintessential picture of bad hair and silly seventies-style outfits it was my prom photo.
My tux was an absolute classic—at least that’s the way I remember it. I know there were pictures, I had seen them long ago.
I don’t know if I ever had a copy, if I did it is long lost like our adolescent puppy love.
But maybe, just maybe she had kept one—no doubt purely for the comedy.
So I sent a message just to say hi and she replied. We caught up with each other (sounded like we both ended up with the right person after all) and then I asked if she had any pictures of us, especially ones featuring my hideous tuxedo.
In no time at all she sent several, including the two above and the game show host monstrosity below.
Along with a note teasing, “Enjoy the ribbing from your kids.”
She should have saved it for blackmail purposes.
David, GypsyNester.com
Thanks to Classmates.com for providing access and compensation for this hysterical blast from the past! As always, all opinions are our own—including the commentary on my horrible 70s clothing choices!
YOUR TURN: Was I stylin’ or what? Tell us your favorite blast-from-the-past reunion story!
So many memories are lost over the years, Classmates.com seems like a great service to reconnect. Those photos are indeed hysterical, and could have been right out of my yearbook as well!
It sure worked for us. Had a lot of fun with it.
Thanks for sharing your hysterical experiences going back to a time that for many of us is best left unpoked-lol.
I didn’t know classmates.com was still around! Funny look back at the 70’s. Especially loved the clothes and hair. You were and are both adorable!
Yup, good stuff if you can’t find the old high school yearbook.
Looking at old pictures is great. It’s the possibility of having to connect with old classmates that frightens me! 🙂 Well done.
Actually it was fun. Found some long lost friends.
I always cringe when I see pictures of myself from the past (although fortunately not many of them exist!). What seemed like the height of fashion then isn’t so appealing now…
Ain’t it the truth Karen!
I enjoyed your walk down memory lane! That tux looks as though it should be in a Hall of Fame somewhere. The bowtie alone is worth a close-up! Good for you for getting so spiffed up!
Truly seventies fashion at it’s finest. I wish the platform shoes had made it into the picture.
What great photos! But you looked like rebels, even then! xo
I was going for the cosmic cowboy thing.
So funny! I wouldn’t have given you a second look. But then again, I would most probably not have gotten even a first look!
Nice story! I reconnected with a lot of my high school friends on Facebook after attending on of my reunions. Now I hear from them regularly. I had hoped to chat with my senior prom date at the reunion and to give him the note he passed to me in the hall asking me to the prom. I had kept it all those years. Sadly, he had passed away and I was too late.
Thanks, can’t believe it will be forty years next year.
What memories (and outfits!). It’s so much fun reminiscing and looking back on old yearbooks. So great that you’ve connected with former classmates too. You guys were great looking back then….and still are.
Thanks Janice, it was a fun article to write.
What fun to find all those old photos and then reconnect with old friends! When I look at my high school grad picture, I can’t believe I ever thought the dress I had on was stylish!
Isn’t that the truth! Probably look back on the stuff we wear today the same way years from now, though it sure doesn’t seem as ugly.
OMG, that prom picture is classic with that heavy black piping and ruffles – stylin! Hope you saved your bell bottoms, they are back in style I’ve heard!
Unfortunately it was a rented tux, otherwise he could break it out for Halloween.
Checking in from the Class of ’72, John Marshall, Cleveland, Ohio….I wore a yellow chiffon dress with the ding-a-ling curls, while my date rocked a red paisley tux! Ah, yes, the ’70’s…..we were so spiffy back then!
Yes we were!
I’ve seen some funny tuxes, but you win! Of course, you look very cute, as we used to say. 🙂 Can you believe that my Class of ’72 has never had a reunion (maybe a 5th – didn’t go) …. as far as I know? I lost touch with just about everyone from school until about 10 years ago when a few of us from the same old neighborhood got back in touch. Fun story and pics.
Wish you could see the shoes! About 4 inch platform fake alligator disco delights. Elton John would have been proud.