I’m on the committee for our 50th Rockford West High School Reunion. It has been a labor of love for the five of us who are trying to organize everything, locate a couple hundred classmates we can’t find, and put together a menu and an agenda that makes the evening memorable.
Better said, it has been fun!
With all this happening I’ve become nostalgic.
I’m thinking back to 1972 and what was happening then.
· All in the Family was the most popular TV show. Our high school team was the Warriors. Our mascot was Chief Wahoo. All three wouldn’t happen these days, would it?
· Fox Television Network was still 14 years away. CNN wouldn’t happen for eight more years. Walter Cronkite gave us news. Real news. Not a version of the news depending on the politics of that network.
· I remember gas wars at one corner by the school. Each station would see what the other was charging then lower the price. I remember paying less than 30 cents a gallon. Buddies when using me as the driver would throw in a quarter or so just for gas.
Ah such wonderful memories as I wax nostalgic.
Yes, the Good Old Days.
But I have other memories that aren’t so good.
· December, 1965, Susan Brady, 6th grader, kidnapped and murdered while walking home from school. She was kidnapped 6 blocks from my house.
· August 1971, a 10-year-old was holding her infant sister giving her a drink 2 blocks from my house when someone stabbed and killed the baby. The case was never solved.
· Walking to the library when I was 10 or 11, I was robbed down the street by some kid a couple years older than me.
· In 7th grade my mom and I got home late one night, and I carried her purse to the porch while she moved the car. Someone came up, walked up between our house and the neighbor’s and took my mom’s purse. I was less than 2 feet from him.
· High school homecoming dance in the gym, Junior year. Race riot. Subsequently we had armed police in the halls for the rest of my time at West High. Guns, knives, etc. were confiscated.
As I think of the Good Old Days, I think of school shootings today. Of course, Uvalde, Parkland (in 2018 where 17 died and 17 injured) and Sandy Hook in Newton, CT (2012 where 28 died and 2 more were injured) are still fresh in our memories and often referred to on the news. But -
· I remember the Chardon High School (Chardon, OH) school shooting in February of 2012. 3 died and 3 more injured. All my kids went to Chardon High. This is an upper middle-class school where you would NEVER think this can happen.
More I remember about the good old days?
· 1966 someone took an elevator to the top floor of the University of Texas tower and killed 14. 31 were injured.
· 2007 – 33 killed at Virginia Tech by a shooter.
· 1940 – 5 killed at South Pasadena High School. 2 more injured.
The Good Old Days
I’m sure politics was never as nasty as it is today. We can ever agree in Congress what day it is today.
· July 11, 1804. Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were bitter political rivals and also bitter personal rivals. Hamilton was the former secretary of the treasury and Burr was the VP. Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel with their dueling pistols.
o Aaron Burr escaped unharmed. Alexander Hamilton was shot and died the following day.
The Good Old Days
Yes, I have wonderful memories of 1972. Stamps were just 8 cents . . . but minimum wage was only $1.60. The most popular car sold in America that year was the VW Beetle.
Mark Spitz won 7 Gold Medals at the Olympics. . . but it was the same year that eight members of the Palestinian terrorist group killed two members of Israeli’s Olympic term and held nine more hostage.
Oh, and Bruce Jenner finished in 10th place for the Decathlon. Four years later he would win the decathlon and be featured on Wheaties. 33 years later Bruce became Caitlyn.
Memories.
On September 10th I’m sure I’ll hug more people than I’ve hugged in one place for a long time. It doesn’t matter if the person is male or female. With age comes wisdom. And memories that the good old days weren’t good all the time, either.
