After the Friday night football game,
after all Saturday at Castle Manor, and after Saturday
night dancing at the American Legion, nineteen from the
Class of '68 (and four guests) joined for dinner at Main
St. Grille in downtown Mishawaka. We had the place to
ourselves. The meal began with grace, offered by Don
Plummer. A total of 86 from MHS '68 had joined in one
thing or another during the weekend, and a few more had
helped to make the weekend happen but had been unable to
be present during the weekend. It was time to say,
"Until we meet again, old friend, goodbye."
Above, on the side
of the table with faces showing, beginning next
to the wall: David Hamman, Don Plummer, Suzy
Collins, Pat Bellovich (Mrs. Mike), and Mike
Bellovich. |
Above, beginning
in the lower left corner and going down that side
of the table: Jeanette Shown (Mrs. Jim), Jim
Shown, Tom Grau, Mary Rhoade, the top of Carol
Ann Nix' head, and Pat McGee. |
Above, beginning
on the far right and going left down that side of
the table towards the wall: Terry DeMaegd, Maggie
DeMaegd (Mrs. Terry), Patrick Long, Pete Dexter
with head turned (MHS '67), and only the barest
bit of Donna Games visible. On the left side of
the table, that is Cosimo Natali in the red
shirt. At the far end on the left side of the
table are Mike Natali, and Mary Jane Dexter (face
barely visible)
Pam Craig took the photos, which explains why she
is not in the photos. |
Above, when it was
all over, four high-school friends bid adieu. Jim
Shown, Alice Marie Beard, Carol Ann Nix, Dan
Nicolini. In high school, Jim, Alice, and Dan put
out the weekly newspaper: Jim sold advertising to
fund the paper; Alice wrote copy; Dan took the
pictures. At the end of high school, Alice,
Carol, and Dan were three of the ten who planned
the graduation events for the MHS Class of 1968.
In the 45 years since, Jim went to war when he
was over 50, Alice raised children until she was
50, and Carol and Dan both prosecuted criminals
until they got tired of it.
Like every other "class of," the Class
of '68 learned that life gets complicated when
you get past 18. In the words of the Statler
Brothers: "We all thought that we'd change
the world with our great words and deeds, or
maybe we just thought the world would change to
fit our needs. ... But living life from day to
day is never like it seems. Things get
complicated when you get past eighteen."
Until we meet again, old friends, goodbye.
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