Dieting For My Reunion?

Margaret Cline -1962

Oh, what a difference 55 years can make in our appearance.  Today, my skin no longer fits my body properly, I have a big gap in my front teeth caused from TMJ, my waistline is much wider, my feet were crippled from a botched foot surgery in 2014, and I don't even want to talk about my arms or neck!   None of that bothers me, but the one new thing that does bother me is arthritis.  I no longer stand tall and straight but stand stooped, like an old person. However, most of the time, I still think youthful thoughts, much like I did in 1962.  In the end, our mind is the most important element in our bodies.  Especially its capacity to remember.  

Margaret Cline Harmon
2017

I look forward to attending my SHS's 55th Class Reunion next week in Sikeston, Missouri.  Labor Day, I gave serious thought of starting a diet to look better for the event. Then I realized it is impossible to lose thirty pounds in four weeks, so I forgot about it.  The Class of 1962 will share many memories when we meet.  None of us will see as well as we did when we graduated from the NEW Sikeston High School.  We can not hear as well as we did back then, and we will all be carrying more weight than in our high school days.  

All of our children are grown, and we have grandchildren, and a few have great-grandchildren.  Our formative careers have now ended.  The reason most of us will attend the reunion is for the shared memories of the time we were relatively worried free.  We can all remember when our bodies functioned perfectly and looked much better than they do now.   Most of us return to our class reunions to visit with our classmates, and recalling their personalities in 1962.  When talking to a classmate, it is common to see the other person as we saw them in high school.  We recall working together in different clubs, in the band, in sports, and in the choir.  The memory of getting up early to be at marching band practice at 7:00 AM  and after school club meetings are strong.  We have collective memories of fun, silliness, and serious moments together as a class, and individually.  

People return to various types of reunions for the feeling of inclusion, and the feelings and memories a place and people produce.  We remember the Bulldog Inn, the Cotton Gin and its smell, the Cow Bell, the Dunn Hotel, the Gay 90's Village, Kirby's hamburgers, the Malone Theater (when it was downtown), Nancy's Sweet Shop, SHS Championship Football, the Skating Rink, Wag's, Woolworths, and much more.  We even remember when Elvis performed at the Armory in Sikeston, not once, but twice.

Elvis Presley - 1955

This year, we will also mourn the loss of classmates - Bob Depro, Joan Happe, Nellie Karnes, Lonnie Dickie, and Phillip Payne.  Like life, this reunion will be filled with joys, fun, and sadness.  It is a time to appreciate each classmate for who they were, and who they have become.  I pray each returning member of the Sikeston High School Class of 1962 arrive safely, and that they return home with a spring in their step and humming "The Red and the Black."  Go Sikeston Bulldogs!