Subject: RE: Sandy Williams Baxter response
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 23:30:53 -0400
From: "James Lightfoot"
To: ALL
All,
Couldn't agree more with Sandy on how well this went. Like Gary Rubloff and
several others I prepared for a possible overenthusiasm on my part. I know I
did not expect it to be this good, nor did I expect the emotions being so
strong.
Now the question for the attendees, how many of you found this as emotional as
I did?
Several years ago I took my kids to the Vietnam Memorial here in DC and I was
expecting to see just a memorial and take it in. When I saw the names of
friends and guys I had flown with in the Air Force on the wall, I choked.
Thankfully, my wife, Pam, stepped in and handled it beautifully as she always
does, but it took a moment for my children to recover from seeing their cynical
Dad actually being emotional. I don't think they saw that again until I
delivered the eulogies at my parents' funerals.
The emotion at the reunion was different - it was not associated so much with
loss. There were some aspects of loss, for example recalling the times with my
parents, and missing their counsel and love, and recalling lost teachers and
classmates. But I woke up on both Saturday and Sunday mornings about
4:30-5:00AM, with my mind going overtime on so many thoughts about school and
the people we had just talked with. And it was very positive, bringing back
memories of friends and family, and getting me to take the time to reevaluate
where I am going and what I am doing.
And a completely different item. I had been warned ahead of time that Peoria
had really gone downhill - I was expecting a boarded up downtown like
Youngstown, Ohio, or some of the other steel cities. Not the case! This was an
alive city! I liked the riverfront - and downtown was cleaner than I
remembered. A month ago I wondered how Dave Byrkit and some of the others could
move back, and now I understand better. My wife, who is not a Peorian,
commented that it was far better than she anticipated given the bad press we
had received.
Anyway, enjoyed the visit immensely and look forward to another reunion. Just
hope the same folks that organized this one do the next one!
Pam and I hope all of you enjoyed this as much as we did. We mailed our
pictures to Todd Marshall today - keep an eye peeled for them.
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: sbaxter [mailto:sbaxter28@charter.net]
Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 12:16 PM
To: ALL
Subject: Re: 8-20-02 group list Susie Solomon added
Hi Everyone,
I have to add my two cents to the "reunion reviews." When people have
asked me how it was, I reply, "far better than I ever expected!" I
want to thank everyone who had any part in this for making it so much fun. I
know several of us have said we should do it again soon and I wonder if there
were any groans from you after so much work. If possible please pass some of
the work load on to some of us. I would be willing to help if you have any
suggestions for me.
It's hard to understand why it was so great. I just know that I
"felt" better after this one than after any of the other reunions.
Was it the emailing beforehand? Was it our age and our "mellowing?"
People seemed genuinely happy to see one another and not just those in their
former social group. I was very impressed with what our fellow classmates have
done with their lives and enjoyed hearing their stories. Wish I could have
heard more. I guess the emails will help with that.
Again, thank you to all of those who contributed to making this a reunion to
remember!
Sandy Williams Baxter