I have been so busy lately that I have only had a chance to think about blogging in passing. It is 11:00 Saturday night and my husband is off to pick up the kiddo and I am taking advantage of these few quiet moments to throw something together.
The Good......
- My husband's cousin and her husband were visiting from Mississippi this past week. i hadn't even met them until a couple of years ago but I really enjoy their company. This year, we promised to take them into Boston for a day. What a glorious day we had. We decided to walk the Freedom Trail. The weather was perfect! We ended up skipping the last stop (Bunker Hill) and took the water taxi from the USS Constitution back to Fanieul Hall. You know, I have lived about 75 minutes from Boston for 26 years and this was the first time that I have ever walked the Freedom Trail. It was the first time on the water taxi too. Isn't it funny how we never do the tourist things until we have someone to take with us?
-My son had plans this evening. We were visiting his grandparents next door, he left early, went home and got ready and then drove the car down. I am really enjoying him having his permit!
-My husband installed Windows 7 on my laptop. It installed very easily and so far, I really like it. Usually when we upgrade something, another function breaks down. So far, so good. I have my fingers crossed (which is making typing much more difficult.)
The Bad.....
-We have a vocal few residents who are pushing to close our high school and have our town tuition out our high school students to another school district. While this would have some benefits (an increased course selection), I believe that it would have a lot of negative effects also. Class sizes would increase significantly, it would be much harder for our students to participate in many activities, the distance from our school could easily result in 2 hours on the school bus each day OR our teenage drivers traveling a very busy and dangerous road and we would have no voice in their education. The savings that they are spouting about has not been verified and I have been told by various people that it is simply not accurate. All of the people pushing to close our school are people who moved into our town knowing the small size of the high school. If you don't like it now, pick a new town. Many people moved to this town because of the small school department. The good news is that I attended a meeting less than a week ago that was advertised by facebook and word of mouth. On a rainy Sunday night, 40-50 residents showed up to say they support our school. I looked around the room and thought "Yup. These are the people that I want to go into battle with. They are the people that make things happen in our small town." I have been tied up writing petition and fact sheets, ordering buttons, writing letters to the editor and planning strategies. Phew.
and The Ugly.....
I got a phone call a little over a week ago from the high school principal. I figured it was because of the fight we were mounting to save the school. Imagine my shock when she told me that a notebook had been found in the school with "disturbing" comments - and my son (and other classmate) was named. Gulp. They know who wrote it but they can't tell us who or what he said. In fact, they didn't even say it was a boy - although I put that together since. All they said was that the writings were disturbing, the police had been called and that while they didn't think it was anything to worry about, they had to let me know. The good news here is that our high school is small enough that the principal knows my son personally, knows who he hangs out with and knows that he has no interaction with this other kid. The bad news - to me anyway - is that they couldn't tell me anything. No name to tell my son to stay away from, no idea of what the threat was so I can tell my son what to watch out for, nothing at all. I understand privacy issues but, gee, isn't my son's right to safety as important as the other kid's right to privacy? I ran into the principal in person and she did tell me that the kid had been removed from school and "probably will not be returning". Huh? He has been removed for good because of what he wrote?!?! Needless to say, that shook all of us up!! I called the police and got more of the same. Although, the first officer did tell me that they didn't consider it to be a serious threat. He had a detective call me back - the husband of the high school principal (the joys of a small town). He also said he couldn't tell me much but did tell me that the kid was away for treatment. He said that they were well aware of this kid at the police department, that he had done many things over the years but that he had never targeted my son or the other student before. He told me that they took the safety of all of the residents very seriously and that he did not feel my son was in danger. Basically, we are operating in the dark and being asked to trust everyone else. As a control freak, that is difficult but I am trying.
Now I am off to read everyone else's blog. I am happy to be back!
Here's to finally posting.
Showing posts with label high school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label high school. Show all posts
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Back to high school!
I have recently reconnected with several of my high school classmates on "Facebook". One of our classmates lives in Germany and was back in Maine for a quick visit so Julie offered to host an impromptu reunion at her farm. With a fair amount of excitement and a small amount of hesitation, I quickly RSVPed that I would be there.
I went to a high school that served 11 towns in a rural area. I have not seen some of my classmates since graduation day over 30 years ago as most of us moved away.
There were 9 of us in attendance plus 2 spouses. As soon as we started talking, the years magically disappeared. It was great fun to catch up with everyone. It was also interesting to hear "the rest of the story" from my classmates.
One classmate, Ed, always seemed to be watching the rest of us with a smile on his face. I always felt that he was more mature than the rest of us and he found our antics amusing. Another classmate said the exact same thing. When we shared that with Ed, we discovered that he had grown up in a household with parents who fought a lot and he feels he stepped back, shut down his emotions and observed the action. He said he was regretful that he never felt capable of joining in the fun.
Another classmate, Kristina, dropped out of our high school our freshman year, took classes in night school and dropped back in our senior year. A different religion from the rest of us, she was not very involved in the social aspect of school. We grew up in the same town and kept in telephone contact even when she wasn't enrolled in our school. What I didn't know was that I was the only friend that she was allowed to call. Apparently, her parents liked me and liked my parents. In addition, her father was a concentration camp survivor from World War II and was abusive. Of all of us, I would say that she has changed the most. She is now a blond, very confident and very social. She has forgiven her father for his abuse and now takes care of both of her parents.
The guest of honor, Danny, is just as I remembered him except that he is much better looking! He has come to terms with being gay and still goes with the flow. I remember teaching him how to deal with fractions in the testing room before we took SATs. No advance planning for him! It appears that he operates under the same philosophy now too. He ups and moves to a new location without a job and without a place to live. Somehow, it always works out for him.
Julie, our hostess, looks and acts the same as she did in high school. On her 4th husband, she lives on a farm in rural Maine and is thriving. Her back story was that she wanted to go to college to become a nurse but her parents wouldn't help her by filling out the financial aid paperwork. Also, her home life wasn't as rosy as we all thought. Her father, a teacher at the school, was apparently very strict and treated her poorly.
Kathy is 60 pounds lighter then in high school (a statement I certainly can't make) and served as a sniper in the military. Not a typical career choice for a small town girl in the late 70s!
Lynn married and divorced her "bad boy" high school sweetheart. She quit college to do that but returned to college and her life plans after the divorce.
Betty got married and divorced twice and picked a new last name after her second divorce. She wanted a new beginning for herself. I have to confess that even though our school was very small - I have no memory of her. Zilch. Nada. Not even a flicker. I kept hoping that something would trigger a memory but no such luck.
The other Julie brought her husband with her. I thought he might feel awkward but he says he had a great time. They co-own a couple of businesses. She seemed very secure and content with who she is and where she is in her life. She was the only other person married to her first spouse.
And, me. Well, I have turned into my mother. I work in the same industry and have the same values regarding family and helping the community. I can't say that I am where I planned to be but I certainly am happy with where I have ended up.
It really was a great day and will be a great memory. It caused me to be introspective. I realize that my classmates were much more complicated than I ever imagined and that the labels they had were not who they were. I realized that if I met some of them today, I probably wouldn't be friends as we don't currently have much in common. Other classmates that I didn't have much in common with in high school would probably be my friends now as the high school cliques have disappeared. However, there is this bond between us that remains after all of these years. I know that if I called Kristina up today and said I needed help, she would be there. No questions asked except for "what do you need?".
We all had such a good time that I know we won't wait another 31 years to get together again. For one thing, we would all be 80 and who knows if we will remember each other!
Are you in touch with any of your high school friends?
Here's to memories!
I went to a high school that served 11 towns in a rural area. I have not seen some of my classmates since graduation day over 30 years ago as most of us moved away.
There were 9 of us in attendance plus 2 spouses. As soon as we started talking, the years magically disappeared. It was great fun to catch up with everyone. It was also interesting to hear "the rest of the story" from my classmates.
One classmate, Ed, always seemed to be watching the rest of us with a smile on his face. I always felt that he was more mature than the rest of us and he found our antics amusing. Another classmate said the exact same thing. When we shared that with Ed, we discovered that he had grown up in a household with parents who fought a lot and he feels he stepped back, shut down his emotions and observed the action. He said he was regretful that he never felt capable of joining in the fun.
Another classmate, Kristina, dropped out of our high school our freshman year, took classes in night school and dropped back in our senior year. A different religion from the rest of us, she was not very involved in the social aspect of school. We grew up in the same town and kept in telephone contact even when she wasn't enrolled in our school. What I didn't know was that I was the only friend that she was allowed to call. Apparently, her parents liked me and liked my parents. In addition, her father was a concentration camp survivor from World War II and was abusive. Of all of us, I would say that she has changed the most. She is now a blond, very confident and very social. She has forgiven her father for his abuse and now takes care of both of her parents.
The guest of honor, Danny, is just as I remembered him except that he is much better looking! He has come to terms with being gay and still goes with the flow. I remember teaching him how to deal with fractions in the testing room before we took SATs. No advance planning for him! It appears that he operates under the same philosophy now too. He ups and moves to a new location without a job and without a place to live. Somehow, it always works out for him.
Julie, our hostess, looks and acts the same as she did in high school. On her 4th husband, she lives on a farm in rural Maine and is thriving. Her back story was that she wanted to go to college to become a nurse but her parents wouldn't help her by filling out the financial aid paperwork. Also, her home life wasn't as rosy as we all thought. Her father, a teacher at the school, was apparently very strict and treated her poorly.
Kathy is 60 pounds lighter then in high school (a statement I certainly can't make) and served as a sniper in the military. Not a typical career choice for a small town girl in the late 70s!
Lynn married and divorced her "bad boy" high school sweetheart. She quit college to do that but returned to college and her life plans after the divorce.
Betty got married and divorced twice and picked a new last name after her second divorce. She wanted a new beginning for herself. I have to confess that even though our school was very small - I have no memory of her. Zilch. Nada. Not even a flicker. I kept hoping that something would trigger a memory but no such luck.
The other Julie brought her husband with her. I thought he might feel awkward but he says he had a great time. They co-own a couple of businesses. She seemed very secure and content with who she is and where she is in her life. She was the only other person married to her first spouse.
And, me. Well, I have turned into my mother. I work in the same industry and have the same values regarding family and helping the community. I can't say that I am where I planned to be but I certainly am happy with where I have ended up.
It really was a great day and will be a great memory. It caused me to be introspective. I realize that my classmates were much more complicated than I ever imagined and that the labels they had were not who they were. I realized that if I met some of them today, I probably wouldn't be friends as we don't currently have much in common. Other classmates that I didn't have much in common with in high school would probably be my friends now as the high school cliques have disappeared. However, there is this bond between us that remains after all of these years. I know that if I called Kristina up today and said I needed help, she would be there. No questions asked except for "what do you need?".
We all had such a good time that I know we won't wait another 31 years to get together again. For one thing, we would all be 80 and who knows if we will remember each other!
Are you in touch with any of your high school friends?
Here's to memories!
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