45th class reunion reunites couple
In 1962, I was just 13 and so was Tim.
Tim, was my hero, but my dear mother had a different perspective. Tim was Catholic and in the 1960s it was strictly taboo for a Protestant to date a Catholic. Our young romance came to an abrupt end.
After we graduated, Tim moved to Florida, married and raised two sons. I married and raised two daughters. Our paths only briefly crossed over the next 40 years.
In 1991, I divorced and in 2008, Tim lost his wife to cancer. I didn’t believe in love anymore and Tim was lonely.
We both attended our 45th class reunion in our hometown, Seymour, Indiana.
Seeing Tim was magic. There were no restrictions on our feelings, anymore, by anyone. We danced, visited and then said goodbye.
Tim drove back to Florida and I stayed in Indiana, but the memory of his smile haunted me. In July, I flew to Fort Myers and Tim and I had our second date. I moved to Marco Island to be with Tim forever in September.
Our four children are happy for us, which makes our lives even richer. Sometimes I believe an older, more mature, love is more grand and mysterious than in our youth.
From a story by Patricia Engleking Osterman in the Naples Daily News, Naples, Florida.
Couple meets again at 40th school reunion and marries a year later
John Rafter and Elaine Leviness graduated from Wicomico Senior High School in 1965. The 414 members of the class scattered — to college, trade schools and jobs. Elaine left for art school in Baltimore, John to college in North Carolina.
“I made it to most of my class reunions,” said John. “I was always curious to see what people were doing.”
“I didn’t go to any,” said Elaine. “I think it took me 40 years to get over high school.”
She graduated from college, married “just long enough” to have two children; earned a master’s degree, worked in education and raised her boys.
John was called to Vietnam, trained as a medic, later got a degree and traveled Europe, the Middle East, Afghanistan and India.
“Reunions are a strange thing,” he says. “Sometimes you have nothing in common with your best friends from high school, and the people you barely knew; now you have all kinds of things in common.”
In 2005, the class of ’65 planned to celebrate 40 years. John was on the reunion committee; Elaine made the trip.
He called in October, on his way to a scuba trip in the Keys; they had dinner. He called on the way home. Then they traveled between Maryland and Florida.
“We were trying to figure out how to spend more time together. John said ‘well, one way we could see each other more is if we get married.’ It was the worst proposal in the world.”
They marvel at their parallel lives: they’ve lived in the same Baltimore neighborhood, visited the same vacation spots. John’s best friends now live in the house where Elaine’s mother grew up. “Maybe the time was finally right – our parallel lives finally crossed,” said Elaine.
From a story by Jackie Jennings in the Delmarva Daily Times, Salisbury,Maryland.
Old flames
Lisa went to her 20-year class reunion and she and her husband bumped into his high-school sweetheart. “I was fine,” Lisa said, “But it was awkward for his old girlfriend.”
Run-ins with former flames can ignite jealousy and arguments over a number of emotionally charged issues.
Keep your cool. If you run into an ex, introduce your spouse or partner immediately.
If you are the new spouse or partner, smile and be polite.
If you are shy or suspicious, you’re setting yourself up for trouble. It’s probably better to not ask any questions.
And if your spouse or partner is looking a little too long, pull him or her aside and confide your feelings privately.
They might not even realize they’re making you uncomfortable.
From an article by Lisa Nicita in The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona.
