Wellesley 25th Reunion

Saying "It's my 25th reunion from Wellesley" sure does make me feel old, but there you have it. The "evergreen" Class of '97 made its way back to campus this past weekend for some fun and some Wellesley traditions. I love taking part in Friday night s'mores as my kids age and experience them differently; getting to see alums from other classes that I never met until reunions, but now they are familiar faces; singing "Lift Thine Eyes" and whatever else is on the program in the whoever-shows-up reunion choir early Sunday morning in the deserted chapel; and just wandering around campus and noticing what's exactly the same (a lot) and what's incredibly different (also a lot).

Robert and I took a selfie (which didn't have a name when we were young) in front of the building where we met, at the Tower Court Mixer at Alumnae Hall the night before my first day of classes, 29 years ago this September 7th.

We had two doubles and a single in Beebe, and Friday night was a big dance party on the academic quad lawn in a tent. Helen danced alone and with friends, while Marcus bopped to the music (he would not admit to dancing) and jumped and frolicked and Robert and Isabel and I talked. Robert and Isabel stood in line for frozen margaritas, too. Breakfast Saturday and Sunday morning was at the Lulu, and somehow managed to please everyone.

After breakfast we hotfooted it over to the boathouse. Marcus took out a kayak and Robert took the girls in a canoe while Isabel went in a different canoe with someone else. Then Marcus chilled with me on the shore and Robert, Isabel, Samantha, and Helen attempted four people in a paddle boat. No go--they almost sank on Robert's side, and it was too hard for Samantha and Isabel to pedal them much beyond the dock. Robert reluctantly got out, and the girls-only paddle boat went out for another half hour.

We did a lot of exploring around campus, outdoors and in. Not pictured: a lovely doze in comfy chairs at the back of the library on Saturday afternoon.

Robert and Helen loved the Edible Ecosystem Teaching Garden. Helen seemed to try to eat every one of the lemony sorrel leaves she could pick.

Helen went to the outdoor kids' program on Saturday afternoon and the one in the gym on Saturday evening. She made friends with every girl between the ages of five and eleven who was present, I think, and would point them out all over campus.

Sunday morning meant chapel service, choir, and then the alumnae parade!

Samantha was too cool to hold the banner with the little girls (Helen is in between Catherine Klancer's 8-year-old, on Helen's left, and Lillian's 6-year-old, on Helen's right), but she marched with me in the parade anyway. Helen studied the print-out of our cheers and learned them all.

Below left, this spirited alum from the class of 1947 was the oldest in attendance. We all made plans to be back on our 75th reunion, at which point many of us will be 97 years old, a very fitting age. Below right, you see Helen's pick for "best dressed" alum--this fantastic class of 1977 alum who had gorgeous green wings that spread out all around her.

We wouldn't miss step singing--even though it got HOT in the sun!--and by Sunday afternoon we finally knew where the "Event Lawn" was (though we agree it deserves a better name--Molly's Meadow? Lake Lawn?). My big children had not yet learned not to lock themselves out of their dorm rooms, though, and we hung out in the Beebe living room for awhile waiting for someone to come with a key to let us in.

Isabel came back to Boston with us and stayed with us for a couple nights. She went swing dancing by Jamaica Pond at sunset, walked through Cambridge and the North End and Copley Square and all of downtown, and on Monday let me accompany her through part of downtown. We saw a historical exhibit on the Common about the original shoreline and Native fish weirs and sustainability; we ate Luke's Lobster rolls and chowder on the Greenway; and we ran into a June Day changing-of-the-guard parade (the first Monday in June every year, apparently) and followed them around for a ways. What fun to extend the reunion a bit!

 

A Look Back:

And finally, the hat on the right was new, part of our "swag bag," at reunion five years ago. I loved it, and I wore it constantly in the summers--and I met so many Wellesley alums who noticed my hat and said hello! I packed it to bring back to campus this year, of course, and I hadn't noticed it was so faded until I saw it next to other people's hats. Thankfully, one of the class officers had extras, and I was able to buy a new one (on the left). This hat saga gives me two main thoughts: 1. I can't wait to wear thenew one more around Boston and to future reunions! and 2. Wow, look at the wear and tear of the past five years! Do all my classmates and I look so comparably worn out? (Just kidding. Partly.)

 

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Created: 6/7/22. Last Modified: 6/7/22.