Fifty, you say?

Fifty!  Fifty years!

Fifty is half of a hundred. Fifty is a half-century. Fifty is a ridiculous number. Fifty is scary.

No, I am not turning fifty. That happened long ago and it was scary enough.

Yes, this is the year of my fiftieth high school class reunion. Ridiculously unbelievable.

Last week, I spent a day at my Alma mater, St. Paul (Minnesota) Central High School. Being a member of the Class of '63 Scholarship Committee, formed right after our 30th reunion to lend a helping hand to college-aspiring students in need, about 8 of us interviewed 22 well-deserving high school seniors who qualified out of 150 initial applications for a face-to-face interview. Of those 22, our task was to select 13 of them for a $5,000 scholarship award each.

Believe me, this was tough. Recounting their academic experiences, as well as their community involvement and their future goals, they made me feel like I've lived under a rock for the past 50 years. They are smart, mature, driven, and know where they're going. This in spite of the fact that some are helping to support their families.

That certainly wasn't me as a high school senior. A far cry from it, in fact.

I was the first to arrive that day, so I had time to get settled in and then watch out the second story window as the students began to arrive for the school day. Some were dropped off in cars, some emerged from an orange school bus, some were simply walking, others roller-blading, Heading toward school for another routine, perhaps ordinary, perhaps memorable, day.

St. Paul Central, ca. 1920. But it actually looked the same in 1963.
Today, it has been renovated and looks nothing like this.
Some original rooms (the assembly hall, the band room) remain the same.

As I watched them, it was me coming up those many steps infamous to Central (steps that I once sprinted up daily and now take me an eternity to mount one-step-at-a-time) to begin another school day.

Perhaps I took the Special (a direct bus) from the corner of Cleveland and Lincoln; perhaps I walked all the way to save bus fare for spending money; perhaps Mary Kay got her mother's car and drove me; perhaps Rosie's boyfriend, Bob, drove us. But it was, in my mind, clearly yesterday.

Nostalgia took over. All of a sudden, the bell was ringing and I was bustling through the hallways to get to my locker, to get to my next class on third floor on time, and, most important, to meet up with Mary Kay to pass last hour's notes between us.

No, not class notes.  Notes we wrote to each other during class, notes that contained urgent and vital information: What was she wearing Saturday night? Who was that seen with Jane at Sandy's Drive-In after school yesterday? What did my mother say when Mike brought me home an hour after curfew? Should we meet at Merriam Park library tonight and tell our moms we have research to do there? Sharing the drama of our teenage lives in notes.

As I listened to the students we were interviewing, it was difficult to imagine their life when compared to mine; indeed, all of ours in the Class of '63. It was a different time, to be sure.

And as a high school senior, had someone mentioned I would be involved in later years discerning who was most worthy of a college scholarship; that I would be attending my fiftieth class reunion this coming August, I'd have been totally mystified at what they were saying.

As we ended our day of interviews and selected the thirteen, with some agreement, a little disagreement and always negotiation, we all agreed wholeheartedly on one thing:

The world is in good hands with these remarkable individuals. Let them go forth and lead.

But a universal truth prevails: Their fifty years will go by quickly.

We four

We've been friends for a very long time.
Me, Mary Kay, Rosie and Janie.

Rose and Jane and I go way back to grade school at Central Lutheran. We shared some of the same classes and teachers: Mr. Rosenwinkel, Mrs. Carlson, Mr. Dreyer. Sat together at lunchtime. Central Lutheran sloppy joe's, our favorite, along with hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes. Good, nourishing Lutheran food.

But then in high school, we met Mary Kay and became a foursome. Double-dating on occasion, sharing classes, meeting before and after school, and passing notes back and forth in between. Confiding our teenage crushes, heartaches, and imparting wise counsel on the matter du jour.

Mary Kay met Bob as a sophomore, became engaged in our senior year, and married the September after graduation. They have four daughters and live not far from me.

Rose met Bob in her sophomore year. Became engaged after graduation, married the following February. They have a son and two daughters. They live in Florida, having moved there for a job transfer.

Jane met Wayne on a blind date, with me playing matchmaker. They became engaged a short time later, and married in October. They have two sons and a daughter and live in Wisconsin.

Bridal showers were given and weddings were shared with great joy. Housekeeping tips and recipes were exchanged. And then the baby showers began.

Our children were born in sequential years, one each year from 1964 to 1969. We, of course, advised each other on baby care and child-rearing.

Somehow the years flew by before our very eyes. Our children started school, graduated and married. Grandchildren followed. And, in my case, the distinction of the first great-grandchild.

When Rose comes home to Minnesota, about once a year, we get together. This happened last month when we all met for lunch.

(L-R) Rose, Me, Jane, Mary Kay

There is nothing quite the same as long-time, tried and true friends.

Together through joys and sorrows, achievements and challenges. Celebrations and disappointments. Loss of parents. Health crises. A bond that cannot be broken.

We four. Friends forever. The real treasures of life.