Nostalgia Gold

40 years!

My brother gave me a box he discovered while emptying my mother’s house. I lived there from age 3-18. This box was full of stuff I collected mostly in high school. Such fun since this year marks the 40th high school reunion year.

I unearthed stacks of notes all folded into little origami, the 70/80’s version of text messaging. For shy girls, we were very boy crazy on paper.

While I was in my hometown recently, I sat with these lovely ladies, and we giggled like schoolgirls over these missives and our recollections. We have all come a long way in 40 years. We are less boy crazy and more confident and accomplished in our own right.

Glad I saved old report cards. Disappointed that Art was pass /fail. But I did earn a P+. Technical drawing was a letter grade. I was the first girl to take that class back then. I would be admitted only if I could get another girl to try out with me. We both earned B’s so the boys wouldn’t feel bad.

 There was a career planning document dated 1978. I scored in the 90th percentile in Spatial Relations. I knew early on that I wanted to be an interior designer, and this was great validation. There were high scores in Abstract Reasoning (patterns, diagrams, designs) and Verbal Reasoning, (ability to reason with words) too. I shall not speak of algebra or other number-y stuff. I am proud to report that my spelling has improved with time, interest, and the computer. 

The sweetest document was an official letter of recommendation from my art teacher. A corner of the mimeographed page is faded but I can still read “Susan is worthy”.