WIT AND WISDOM ACCORDING TO JUDE

Dear Class of 66, students and teachers, THANK YOU for the memories!

Re-connecting with long-lost Peggy Jones after 40 years was exciting in and of itself. To top off her surprise appearance, she even brought copies of her autographs of the Beatles and Stones and their 40+ year old album covers to share. Peggy and I saw the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl in 1964. She was arrested for jumping onstage at the Stones concert in 1965. The Beatles and the Stones? Hell, Peggy (Wildest Dresser) Jones was MY idol, and it was so wonderful to see that devil-may-care look in your eyes once again! Those other classmates who braved their first reunion in 40 years, like Eileen McConnaughy and David Gieg, deserve a lot of credit. It is enough of a challenge to face the changes after ten years, let alone four decades. That is why I am joining the 2011 bandwagon. Ten years from now will be too long to wait.

Sitting with Ann Turner and Penny and Pam Mertens during the slide show unleashed in all of us some long-buried demons of being in class together for four years and trying every day of those four years to disrupt the orderly flow of education. When Danny was asking the crowd to stand up for recognition, we whipped ourselves into an adolescent frenzy by whispering parallel irreverent questions so our group could jump up with each query. For example, Those with PhDs? became -Those who dye their hair? Forgive us, Dan, if we got a bit unruly and tried to steal the glory, we were just transported back to a time when causing trouble seemed infinitely more important than Latin or liturgy, and so worth all risk of censure and punishment.

Laughter is the best medicine for the ailments of old age. Seriously, I was so impressed by the breadth and depth of the achievements that Danny acknowledged. In spite of our frequent attempts to thwart its influence, the superior education we received at Alemany was evident in the faces and the stories of all of you, not just the academic part, but also the humanitarian part, above all. I came home and decided to take the part-time teaching position at the Community College. If so many of you could devote your entire lives to financially unrewarding careers, this is the least I could do! You inspired me to be a better person, at least for one semester. For me, this spirit captures the essence of what it means to be a part of our class.

How gallant of Leo Restrich to wear the Gyoengyi Molnar nametag in silent protest of her absence. Gyng was one of my very best friends in high school and college and I miss her, which reminds me to say how happy I was to at least have Kathy Dunlay there; and how much I missed seeing their old friend Bob Johnson (aka Cuddly BJ)--not to mention Annie B.s and my co-wahines, Pat Maryon and Anne Talbot, and my other De La Salle chums, Cha-Cha, Mary O, and Steve Kohler. Thanks so much to Jim Dantona and John Stigmon for telling me that I was a tomboy and fist-fighting feminist since 5th grade. It was perhaps the nicest of all the compliments I received that night. I did not need to squeeze myself into that panty girdle after all: everyone made me feel incredibly lucky just to be alive.

How insightful of Charmaine to bring the girls side together in Hollywood, starting with the vague and haunting memories of the Sunset Strip nightlife en route to the Sunset Towers hotel. Sitting at the rooftop table underneath a brilliant blue sky with this eclectic group of 24, I truly appreciated the beauty of my hometown for the first time since my exodus in 1973.

It is a bit of a relief to read so many comments that echo my feelings of the dreamlike, surreal brevity of the experience. I did not take nearly enough photos, talk to so many old friends, or venture to meet classmates I never got to know in high school. It was like the Beatles song: You say good-bye, and I say hello, hello, hello. And the night was over. It was a moment in time that touched me deeply, and I am very grateful to Danny, Charmaine and the extraordinary committee who orchestrated turning back the clock, literally and figuratively, as Sr. Marie Gerard would've said (while banishing me to the corner of the room in English IV for mocking her).

Love and gratitude to you all,

Jude Judy Hawkes

Ketchum, ID