ON THE ROAD AGAIN

This morning, we're on the road again...for real.  Yes, it's High School Reunion season (hooray) and we're driving to BC's 60th Annual All School Jamestown High School Reunion.  60 years ago, hmm...that would be 1954, when BC, aka, cutest boy in Jamestown High, graduated.  The cutest boy still loves these reunions.  Really, it was one of the things that was so sweet when I met him.  He was always excited about his annual high school reunion.   He never hinted, not once, that I would be expected to attend with him...

I'm not particularly nervous about attending this event.  I've probably been to ten or more in the last nineteen years.  But, and a few of you may understand this, I'm attending as the Second Wife.  A Second Wife can bring a chill to a small rural community, particularly if the First Wife is an alumna.  I'm generally greeted politely, if I'm not ignored, but there is tension in the air.  Actually, it's worse at the quinquenniel reunion of BC's Veterinary Medicine class.  You could cut that tension with a scalpel.  Fortunately, there is another Second Wife at that event, so she and I sit by ourselves, slam tequila shots, and gossip about the others.  Actually, that's not true but it was fun to write.

One huge plus about the Annual High School Reunion is that it takes place in Kansas.  We do not eat red meat per BC's nutritionist's orders, but in Kansas there is no way to avoid it.  We will meet at a small Country Club again this year.  Meal choices will be Strip Steak (well done, medium or rare), or a Hamburger Steak that covers the plate.  I order the Strip Steak which is usually a little tough and leans toward the well-done no matter what you requested, but it's real meat.  It is chewy, and I love it.  It's the highlight.

The Annual High School Reunion has a number of small contests.  Who is the Oldest Alumna?  Hard to believe, but it's not BC.  They're a long-lived group in that corner of the state.

Who came the farthest for the Annual Reunion?  You would think it would be us, but a friend of BC's from Tucson loves the reunions nearly as much as BC and he always wins.  Unless, of course, one of the youngsters from the 1980s flies in from California, then all the Arizona alumni are toast.  I have some questions this year as we are driving back and delivering a 2007 BMW Z4 to family in Wichita.  I will be looking for a contest as to who drove, not the most miles, but who drove the longest miles, because that will be us walking away.  Have you ever driven a 2007 BMW Z-4 1,100 miles in two days?  Actually, we have and I'm shocked we're doing it again.

BC's High School Reunion Committee doesn't plan a dance or elaborate program.  Everyone just table-hops, laughs, and reminisces about old friends, six-man football, Halloween when there really were tipped outhouses (Good Lord), and the cutest girl in the Class of 1956.  A recurring topic of conversation, every year, is the caper when BC and three of his friends were suspended from school for three days after dropping fire-crackers off the roof of the school on to people coming out of the gymnasium doors.  Do I even need to say those were far simpler times?  This reunion evening will be "Mayberry" and "Leave It to Beaver" all wrapped up in blue and white (school colors) ribbons.  Wish me well.

Margie
margiestaggs44@gmail.com