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