My 55th High School Reunion (I Can't Believe It)...

   

Santa Monica High School, as it looks today.



    My, how the years have flown by!  June 14th marked the 55th Anniversary since I graduated from Santa Monica High School in (yes, same name) Santa Monica, California.  I attended the ten year reunion with Gerry, when he was alive, in 1967.  It was held on the Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor.  It was a lot of fun to see lots of friends.

     In 1997, I attended our fortieth reunion in Santa Monica.  I was single then, and attended with my friends, Barbara (Atwood) and Marilen (Ede).  We also had a very good time.  I wanted to attend the fiftieth reunion in 2007, but for one reason or another, I couldn't go.

     This year, I was determined to make the trip all the way down there, so I contacted some of the girls on the committee and made arrangements to attend.  On Friday, June 1st, I flew to Burbank Airport, where I was met by former classmate, Vicki (Richardson).  She drove me to her beautiful home in Simi Valley, where I would spend one night with her.  I met her husband, too.  He is a great person and a nice match for Vicki.

     Vicki and I had a lot of catching up to do, and we did it over putting together flower arrangements for the tables at the Reunion, and a delicious fish dinner (which her husband prepared).  There is a lot to talk about when there has been a fifty-five year gap since high school!

      On Saturday morning, we got up quite early for the drive from her house to Playa Del Rey to deliver the flowers to the venue where the reunion would be held in the evening. Then, it was on to Santa Monica to attend the All-Class Picnic on "Samohi's" campus. I had never been to one of those. It was a wonderful memory jogger for me. The campus looks nothing like it used to. Oh, well, the main building is still there (the one where I took all of my Math classes and my Typing Class, and Psychology and Spanish), but it is no longer the Administration Building. It is completely used for housing class rooms now.

Some Alumni from another class.

     We met with a lot of our former classmates on the stairs in the front of the school. We took pictures, ate lunch and many of us got re-acquainted. I couldn't believe how many friends from the past were there. Some of the friends I talked to were Lynette( Galusha) Komarik (who lives in Cedar City, Utah now); Fred Harvey (who was in the Senior Class Presidency); Jules Resnik, Alice (Gomez), Julia (Martinez), Gretchen (Myers) Doeringer, Sally (Richardson) Scholz, Barbara (Doughrty), Steve McBeth, Chuck Hanson, and Judi (Shearer) Colby-Forman. Wow, what a lot of memories!

Julia (Martinez), talking to Lynette (Galusha).

Gretchen (Myers), one of my roomies!

     I took a "solo" walking tour of the campus and saw, in my mind's eye, myself walking those same halls as a teenager, carrying my books from class to class.  I walked down to the new, fully restored "Barnum Hall," where we held our assemblies and other school meetings and where our Senior Class plays were produced.  When I was younger, I took dance lessons, and we performed many recitals on that stage.  I walked in the front doors and it was like deja vou..  There on the stage were 6 or 7 little girls in costumes, rehearsing for an upcoming dance recital.  I was mesmerized.

The newly restored Barnum Hall.

      At about 2:00 or so, I left the campus with Vicki, who drove me to Marina Del Rey and the hotel where I was going to room with Gretchen and Sally.  We called ourselves "The Old Ladies of the Class of '57."  We had a great time sharing stories of our lives and celebrating this amazing event.

     After we got ready for the Banquet, we drove to the venue where the reunion was going to be held. It was elegant!  The tables looked amazing, and I found Vicki to tell her so.  There were so many friends there and I got to visit with Richard Pinney, Martha (Ronay) Meade, Natalie Crawford (who married my old Math Teacher)  It is amazing how 55 years can be erased in only a moment, and there we were, re-living all those moments in high school.  The food was excellent, the program (planned by Judi) was amazing, and I honestly believe everyone had a wonderful time.

     On Sunday morning, we checked out of our hotel.  I said good-bye to Gretchen and Sally and met Vicki, who drove me to her hotel, where we had an amazing breakfast with Chuck Hanson and his wife, Vicki, Jerriann (Blichfeldt) Hoag, Julia (Martinez), Ebba (Torres), Barbara .(Doughrty), and Judi and George.  We all had so many life stories to share and I was amazed at how many of us had lost our first husbands and most of us had remarried.

View from the Lobby at our Hotel in Playa del Rey.

Another view from the hotel.

Ebba (Torres) and Vicki (Richardson) at the Breakfast.

Julia, Jerriann, and Barbara.

  After the breakfast, Vicki drove me back into Santa Monica and we drove past a lot of childhood memories, including the house I lived in when I was in High School. My, oh my, how things have changed over the years. We then drove down the coast and over the mountains to Vicki's house to visit for a little longer before I had to be at the airport to catch my flight home.

My house on 26th Street, as it looks today!

     All in all, it was an amazing 3 days. It was a bit rushed, to say the least, but those 3 days left me with memories that I will treasure forever, and renewed friendships that warm the soul. Are there going to be any more reunions? That's hard to say. According to Judi, who worked so very hard on this one, she will not be in charge of another one. Will someone else take the reins from her and tackle that huge job? That remains to be seen. Meanwhile, I have wonderful memories of our 55th!

Good-bye, Samohi!  Thanks for the memories.