Greenville Class of 1976 reunion: A chance to feel young again

If you happen to be reading this article and it catches your eye, good. If it happens to touch your heart, all the better.

There are few things we can experience at this point in our lives that can make us, well, feel young again. For some it's visiting with their grandchildren, some a quick ride on a motorcycle or convertible. Perhaps it's going out on a date with someone special, either for the 100th time or the very first time and what follows. There are no magic potions or fountains of youth that we can find, no time machines. Or are there?

I have found in my life, being 68 years young, that there is one thing that works. Getting together with my old high school friends. Some of those friends I've known since kindergarten. And yes, despite all the ups and downs, all the life changes, all the uncertainty of relationships, we are still friends. Actually, the best of friends. It matters not if I haven’t seen them in days, months, years or decades. Perhaps I shared a drink with them, a cup of coffee or even an ice cream cone the other day. Getting together again feels like we are back at the lunch table, laughing, joking and feeling like kids with no awkward pauses in the conversation. The way we are supposed to feel.

We are in the final stages of planning The Class of 1976’s 50 year reunion. The Class of 1976 was the largest class to graduate from Greenville. And from what I have been told and witnessed from having worked at GCS for 27 years, as well as advisor for two classes, it was one of the tightest classes to graduate from Greenville.

Our 50th reunion will be held on Saturday, September 12, with an icebreaker on Friday night the 11th and an informal breakfast on Sunday the 13th. The event Friday and Saturday is being held at The Hollowbrook in Greenville. Alumni from ‘76 can come to all or part of it. Every effort has been made to track down class members, an eight-plus-month labor of love. Everyone we could find was sent an email (something that wasn’t around in 1976) or a letter, now referred to as snail mail. If you don’t know about this for some reason check your spam folder, mailbox or get a message to Gayle Schermer, Paul Ventura or Gail Wells.

Now the hard part. Folks, this may be the last time we can get together. Some are no longer with us and like you we have lost some very good friends. Some of those friends, fairly recently. Make the commitment; I promise you will have no regrets. Some will say well, "I don't know." I am on my own now, or I gained so much weight or I lost my hair, my teeth, other body parts. Well, we are all in the same boat! We are all the same age and all could use a dose of youth... feeling young again.

I truly believe this: attending will be a good thing. You will not want the evening to end. Yes, you will say goodbyes and leave the room. But I guarantee you will remain in the parking lot still talking, still laughing and, yes, still feeling young again.