Tell that to the Schreiber Classes of ’70, ’71, ’72 and ’73
By Andrea Mastrocinque-Martone
Nothing can shake loose our memories of our Port Washington and Schreiber. True, people grow, people change. Yet there is an innate sense of self that is always there that milestone high school reunions can bring out in ways that years of therapy cannot. It’s been nearly half of a century since some of us graduated from Schreiber, and we are old enough now to be the parents (if not grandparents) of the seniors who are graduating in June, and far enough away from our own graduations to appreciate what we learned there that was worth keeping.
Our friendships and ties to peers were so central to our lives during a time that seemed so important. And soon, at reunion time this summer, many classes will return to their alma mater as adults, free to appreciate the youth we all once were—a luxury this year’s crop of Schreiber graduates will have to wait 45 years to enjoy.
Our high school reunions are small slices out of time, unattached to reality, not dependent on anything but good will, a sea of smiles and belly laughter, peppered with nostalgic ’60s and ’70s music that instantaneously catapult us back to a much simpler (possibly happier) time in Port.
But perhaps more importantly, class reunions are a celebration of “us” and of the friendships that we began more than 40 years ago that have endured, rekindled and how these friendships impacted our lives, then and now, and will always be cherished.
Delving deeper into our psyches, what do you think is the real reason we go to our high school reunions?
One reason is this: reflecting back to our younger selves, our Schreiber days were where we began to shape the adults we were to become—a monstrous task confronted by adolescent amateurs. Going to school was a formative life experience—as social as it was academic—in which we encountered a collision of potential identities…one of which we would choose and stay with each one of us for years to come.
A second thought: our return to our Port Washington roots to attend our reunion is fueled by a kind of cosmic curiosity, because no other event or opportunity in our lives can show us how “seasoned” we’ve grown or how wise we’ve become. The reunion gives us the opportunity to mingle for a few hours with those who started out with us on the journey, only to return as equals, as adults. With graying, thinning (or gasp…balding) hair and thickened middles, we look into the eyes of our old friends, and we are pleased to see that their love for us reflects the person we used to be, the person we always wanted to be and the person we are today—yet still the same.
“You haven’t changed a bit,” we all say, and simultaneously LOL at the big fat lie, acknowledging our dependency on prescription eyeglasses and small pouches puckering at the edges of our mouths or twin chins. We chat endlessly of the challenges we faced as parents and the joys of becoming grandparents. We speak of divorces, careers, retirements—even deaths—all the while sharing magic and communion in having been young together and growing up in Port.
A third thought: dreams came easily then, as the future lay before us. There was intimacy in those days that cannot be duplicated in the present, as these are the peers who—at one place in time during our younger days—knew our shoe size, favorite cafeteria meal, romances, “firsts,” favorite eight-track and our deepest, darkest secrets. In our high school days, we not only had hours to spend talking to our friends, but hours of things to say to them.
Decades later, we stand before one another racking our minds to remember where did everyone go after graduation? Who did they marry? Who became successful, entrepreneurial, amassed a fortune in the dot.com era, or was smart enough to invest in start-up companies like Microsoft, Google, Twitter or Facebook? We wonder who achieved their true potential.
Which leads to the most crucial reunion question: Have we? In my mind, the real revelation is that we are not so gravely concerned with what our classmates think of what we’ve done with our lives, as much as what we think of ourselves. Are we happy with the choices we made in our lives since we graduated high school? Did we have the vision in those days to choose the right career? Have enough life adventures? Did we take too many wrong turns, too many foolish risks and waste precious time? Did we pursue our passions, live a purpose-filled life? Live where we wanted with someone we wanted to be with?
And what if it’s all still out there, still waiting to be had, even after four-plus decades from Schreiber graduation?
That idea—not what we look like at a reunion or what other people think of us—is the most gut-wrenching and exciting facet of our reunion. The radical thought might push us to think outside of our daily routines, into the exhilarating and (for some) discomforting realization that our lives are not yet done and we can still transform ourselves, blossom and grow just like we did during our youth. And (our kids would be shocked at the notion), that we are still developing human beings. Yes. Still capable of surprising somebody—maybe even ourselves.
So how many reading this plan to attend their high school reunion this summer at the Port Yacht Club? The novelist George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans) had it right, even as far back as the 18th century, when she wrote, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
We can, after all, take a sharp turn off the LIE and drive north to our beautiful, idyllic town in our vehicular hybrids. Turn on Pandora or Sirius full blast to the ’60s and ’70s channel to get in that groovy mind set. It truly feels like we never left.
Schreiber reunion junkies Andrea Mastrocinque-Martone (Class of ’72); Larry Wurzel (Class of ’71); and Linda Ragusa-Demeo, (Class of ’73) have been organizing their respective class reunions for four decades. The Class of 1971’s 45th reunion is set for July 30 at the Port Yacht Club. Contact Larry Wurzel at larry.wurzel@calicocottage.com.
Other Schreiber reunion junkies are Linda Papasidero D’elia, Class of ’70, and Mark Wurzel, Class of ’69. (Andrea Mastrocinque-Martone is a former editor of the Port Washington News)
Upcoming Schreiber Reunions:
Class of ’96: Saturday, June 4, at the Chalet & Lounge in Roslyn. Coordinators: Trish (Kelly), Jessica (Valenzuela) Tobar, Kristin (Deluca) Binkley, Natalya (Castrissiades) Panullo. To purchase tickets visit www.eventbrite.com, search: Class of ’96 Schreiber Reunion. Email Trish Gargani: triciavk@yahoo.com.
The Class of 1997 will be having their 20th year reunion next summer. Their facebook group can be found at www.facebook.com/groups/schreiberclassof1997reunion. The reunion committee is Gina Martone Baker, Katie Kintner Lessig, Erica Cave Burns and Nicole Cuoco Altamura. Email ginamaribaker@aol.com.
