"The Class of '61"

Dave Fitzharris has written a wonderful poem about our class, entitled "The Class of '61".  Read it and remember.  It captures just about everything.  Great job, Dave!!!!

 
                      The Class of ‘61                        

 

We all were there: the cocky jocks,

The song girls in their perky smocks,

Hot rodders with D.A.’s and flash,

The Lush Club and its hidden stash,

 

The speech kids’ handsome Father “C”,

Who took them out to water ski.

And then there’s Sister Mary Herbert:

“Above the calf!!  That’s such a short skirt!”

 

“At Sarah’s Party, did you drink?

“Don’t lie to me!  What did you think???

“It’s time to force you to repent:

“The remedy’s mass punishment!”

 

“Forget about the Senior Sneak!

“Sixty-one is up the creek!

“And if downstream you think you’ll swim,

“The Senior Ball is in the gym!”

 

Most of us survived, and surely

Life holds more than Father Hurley,

Adolescent affectations,

Doubts about our own salvations.

 

But that was fifty years ago,

Time enough for us to grow.

To put our teenage views aside

And let our wisdom be our guide.

 

In ’61 we bid adieu

To all the happy days we knew.

Ahead, success was preordained

Our goals, of course, would be attained.

 

God laughed!  Another generation

Focused on its social station.

When would mortals ever learn

That life, itself, is its concern?

 

He placed temptation in our way,

Giving us a chance to stray.

Perhaps a tragic loss to bear

That plunged us into deep despair.

 

Or could it be a lust for gold

That caused our fortunes to unfold?

Or beauty lost or pounds put on?

Disease’s toll, our faces drawn?

 

Disillusion with the Church?

Spouse who left us in the lurch?

Careers that ended in a rut?

But we’re still here, and so … “So what?”

 

We all have scars, unseen or not

Reminders of what God hath wrought.

We all have suffered life’s abuses;

All of us could make excuses.

 

Come join your classmates if you can,

For we’re the Fellowship of Man.

This is, perhaps, our last communion,

The class’s 50th reunion.

 

So cast away your doubts and fears

And celebrate our high school years.

We shared some kicks, some angst, some crimes,

Welcome back, to share those times!

 

 

Dave Fitzharris

April, 2010