CLASS OF 69 TURNING 70

There are people.

We'd like to see again

Not just some handsome guy or beautiful girl  

we might have passed somewhere between

"A Hall and the "G" Wing

But some special people who had touched

our lives in simple ways.

Some without evening knowing it.

Whose names and faces

appear in alphabetical order in our

Morton West  High School yearbook.

Or are neatly tucked away in tattered brown

boxes in the attic or basement.

Or are glued upon the yellowing pages of an

old photo album or scrapbook.

They are the friends in our High School Classes.

People whom we found witty, clever or talented.

People who worked with us on the school

newspaper or the Talon Yearbook.

Or the crazy, fun loving "backstage" people

who were always supportive to any of us who

had to sing, dance or act our way through

a Morton theatrical production.

The friends who repeatedly said "break a leg".

Or perhaps, the people we once sacrificed

our vocal cords for cheering them on

at some Morton West sporting event.

It could be the person who shared gym

0r a hall locker next to us--who by years end

had become a treasured friend.

Or maybe that very shy someone who had taken

all four years to make our acquaintance.

It might well be friends who swam next to us

during Swim Club shows or swam into us at Swim Club practices.

It could be the friend who encouraged us to go a

little faster, jump a little higher or tackle a little harder.

That one person who no matter if our team won or lost

always made us feel we did our best.

There are always people we'd like to see again----

People we rallied with before and after school.

The friends who we spent time with in clubs

and after school organizations.

The people we debated or ran against seeking office

for Class or Student Council.

Wonderful people who know the true meaning

of chicken wire, tissue paper and after midnight

each year at Homecoming time.

The friends we studied with, competed against--

sharing and comparing the "A" papers and

complaining about the "D" papers.

The friends who never laughed out loud

when we gave an oral report.

"Or the class clown who did laugh--and we didn't mind it."

Each of us have special people we have always hoped

we'd see again.

It might not even happen.

And probably wouldn't change our lives.

But something in us reacted to something

they said or did.

And there are people we'd like to see again.

If only to say

"Thank-you"

one more time!

Adaption of a "Merrit Malloy" poem by Deborah Proska

Given at the 50th Class Reunion, September 21, 2019