55th Reunion Memoir

by Joy Greenberg Blank

 

 MEMPHIS TECH HIGH 55TH REUNION 

APRIL 21 , 2006

           With excitement and denials that fifty-five years had passed since we last joined together as a student body, we arrived in Memphis from the north, south, east and west to meet, feast and renew friendships of bygone days.

           With worry we asked ourselves will I recognize anyone?  Will it be necessary to thumb through yearbook pages to match names to faces?  Will anyone remember me?  Will resurrected memories close the distance the class of ’51 has traveled and darken the strands of gray we wear or cover and erase the no longer smooth contours of our youth? 

           Nervous but excited, we entered the Goldsmith Room at the Memphis Botanical Gardens on Friday night.  Magically five and a half decades disappeared along with worries and inhibitions as we discovered the fountain of our youth. 

 From all directions squeals of recognition filled the hall.  Hugs and kisses were a red carpet of welcome.  Cries of, “Happy to see you.  Why, you haven’t changed a bit.  Remember me?  We were in Louise Clark’s fourth period English together or was it Spanish or Art?  I’ll never forget that winning touchdown you scored in our last game with Central, the annual minstrel shows and the aroma of delicious concoctions created in Miss Millett’s cooking classes.” 

 We were on a sentimental journey that instantly took us back to that carefree time of fun, games and going steady while passing classes with varying shades of flying colors when our futures were yet unknown.       

 Revisiting the Tech High of 2006 the next day again sent us back in time.  Walking the once-familiar halls, visiting the school office, auditorium and classrooms awakened more memories.  Voices from the past of friends, teachers and Mr. Highsaw could be heard by those who listened. 

 After our morning tour we met at the Aintree Farms Club House that night to nourish ourselves with Memphis barbeque, fried chicken and good company. Some of us from distant parts had forgotten what real southern cookin’ was like, but recklessly threw caution, calories and cholesterol numbers to the wind to digest the lip-smacking feast.  

           We delighted in hearing how others had lived their lives since graduation, about their experiences and careers, their marriages, progeny and the adventures of their golden years.  And finally it was time to say goodbye taking with us new memories of our Tech family to savor over and over while promising to meet again for our 60th reunion.

           Hopefully, those who could not be with us in Memphis in 2006 will give themselves and us a unique treat in 2011, one they will also savor for the next five years.  Though our hair may then be whiter, our eyesight dimmer and our hearing on lower volume, we promise you an experience you will not want to miss and maybe you, too, will discover your fountain of youth, at least for a weekend.

 Joy Blank