Autumn Potpourri: St. Mary’s of Royal Oak Class of 1971 Reunites and More

Life and time seem to accelerate as I get older, but for one wonderful evening recently, the world stopped spinning. I celebrated with more than 70 of my classmates, spouses and friends at the of Royal Oak Class of 1971's 40th reunion. Oh, yes, 40 years after graduating, we are indeed rounding the bend toward senior citizenhood — but on this Saturday night, we were all young again. Or, as our classmate Brad Richards eloquently stated: "Youth fades, but immaturity lasts forever!"

When you come from a small school such as St. Mary’s with only 300 students, where many of us went to the same school for all 12 grades together, at a minimum you have a lot of incriminating stories to share. Even in small schools, there are cliques and the inevitable bumps and bruises suffered from the thoughtless comments only adolescents can sling at each other. No one, not even the coolest of the cool kids, gets out unscathed.

While each of our reunions through the years has been fun, there was a certain warmth in the air at this 40th reunion that seemed to meld the cliques. I watched as a conga line weaved its way off the dance floor with classmates, spouses and friends of our class laughing and shaking hips without a care in the world. Laughter and stories were the specialty of the day, and everyone seemed to make it a point to seek out, hug and smile with everyone.

Jo Agnello Brooks – who along with Fran Crane, Deb Delsman, Jackie Moore, Jim Tomasycki and Scott Ouellette organized the party and put a memory book together – did a wonderful job of summarizing the spirit of our reunion, which is likely shared by many readers as the years pass. She said:

Through the course of collecting the bios, writing my own bio and renewing friendships at the reunion, it was repeated many times by several people that it was difficult to write the story of one's life without feeling as though you were bragging.

It has made me realize that even though we have all taken different paths, we have all found success in many different ways. We have found success through our careers, our children and grandchildren (or some in the lack of), in family, in faith, in travels, in love, in the recovery of a child, writing a book, creating art, and starting a business.

Whatever the path we have each chosen, it seems that we have all found great success in our lives and we are each very proud of who we have become. It is said that the greatest goal in life is to find peace with oneself and it would appear that we are all well on our way. Thanks for the memories.

Jo posted this on ourClass of '71 Facebook page, which has become our new class hangout. If only we could get a Sander's hot fudge cream puff served, we’d be right at home.

Michigan celebrity sighting in California

My wife, Kathy, and I were in the San Francisco and Oakland, CA, area to visit our son recently when we had a chance encounter with a Michigan celebrity.

We traveled over the Bay Bridge to our son Joe’s workplace in Oakland, passing by the Occupy Oakland movement before parking on a side street. We hadn’t walked 20 feet when I noticed filmmaker and Michigan resident Michael Moore, of Roger & Me and Bowling for Columbine fame.

I hollered, “Hey, Michael, we’re from Michigan, can I take a picture?”

He was not quite as animated as me, and without really acknowledging us, said, “Uh, sure.”

I hustled Kathy close up to Moore, fumbled with my phone camera and snapped the accompanying photo. I’m pretty sure you’ll agree, Moore is unenthusiastic about his fellow Michiganders taking a photo, and Kathy’s pose is a cross between bemused and "What am I doing here?"

Because I have traveled a lot, that increases the odds of these random celebrity sightings. I’ve sat next to the Fonz, the rapper Ludacris and Sparky Anderson on flights. I’ve rubbed elbows with actors Rob Lowe, Jodie Foster, Sam Elliott and singer Billy Joel in hotels or restaurants through the years.

My favorite was Sparky, whom I left alone for most of flight from Los Angeles to Detroit; but about an hour out of Detroit, I introduced myself. He talked to me all the way through landing as if I was his best friend. He was as warm and down- to-earth as you saw him on television. 

That’s my report, and I’m sticking to it. Our next column will return to Royal Oak as we strive to bring a smile to your face.

It’s Monday: Let’s go!   

Gerry Boylan is the author of two books, Getting There, a novel, and Gerry Tales, a collection of short stories. Both books are available at Amazon.com. In addition, they are available for download for Kindle and Nook at Smashwords.com, Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. You may also pick up both books at the Yellow Door Art Market in Berkley.