Lost in the '60s

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The past week has been one of reminiscing with old friends and acquaintances. The class reunion was held Aug 2 and was a great success -- far beyond my expectations.

I wore my black dress and shoes, black stockings and my real pearls. I was the only woman there in a dress. It is indeed a casual world we live in today. Oh, I know that trousers are perfectly appropriate at any given venue these days, and some attendees looked perfectly stylish in their trousers. Call me old fashioned, but I think some occasions call for a dress. Please feel free to disagree with me on this point!

Fortunately, no one was dressed in the style of the 60s, as in the image above.

I saw classmates I had not seen since our graduation day. In my memory, they had remained as they looked in the 60s, so yes, in some cases their appearances were, well, shocking. I am sure the same was the case for them as well!

I also spent a lovely afternoon with two other high school friends, a  couple of my closest friends who were not in my class. We recounted some of the crazy and fun things we did when we were 16 and 17 years old. For instance:

We were three of five friends who called ourselves "The Deadbeats." We thought that was such a cool thing! Each of us had a number and we would count off each time we met up. We had charms on our charm bracelets with our "number" on it.

We tooled around on Sunday afternoons in one of our group's little yellow Ford, checking out the normal spots where teenagers hung out: the Dairy Dip at the River; the Elk River pier; Joe Wheeler State Park picnic grounds. We rolled down the car windows and called out to friends, acted so silly and laughed our heads off at everything and nothing.

One time, one of our number was mad at her boyfriend and she had the idea we would break into the "boy cave" he shared with his friends. It was a little hut they had built themselves down on the creek bank. The boys used it as their hangout -- a fishing cabin and a place they could go to drink beer!

We drove there one Saturday night when we were fairly certain they wouldn't be there. Yes, we broke out and climbed in through a window. We didn't really destroy anything, just messed things up a bit. We felt so big and brave that we'd been so naughty.

The "break in" was the talk of the school on Monday morning. It remained our secret. In fact, one of our group eventually married one of the boy cave members, and we believe she never told him of our "crime." Alas, she departed this life way too early, a victim of cancer, in the 1990s.

Another incident we discussed was the cold winter night at a spend the night party where we tried beer the first time. We we being REALLY naughty here. A little dab will do you! At least it did me, as I had the bright idea to go across the street and "beat up" the girl who had "stolen" my boyfriend. I took off in my pjs and robe, onto a snow-covered lawn, intent on my mission. My friends, fortunately, had the good sense to run out and save me!

Ah, so many things we did when we were young and stupid. But it has felt good to remember these times. And I'm reminded of the saying, "there's no friends like old friends."