I recall--when in high school--attending an alumni basketball game at which men in their 20s and 30s tried to provide some competition to a varsity team in the bloom of youth. We applauded the alums when they were introduced, but the truth is that they appeared to be very old, as if from another planet....a planet named "Elder," inhabited by aging people. So it is, that today's students applauded heartily in assembly as we introduced alumni--some from the classes of 1949 and '59 who are back for their 60th and 50th Reunions.

 
I pointed out that in 2060 and 2070--years never articulated before--those students who are fortunate will be back at Proctor for their 50th and 60th Reunions.

 
At some level, teenagers appreciate this news, but they can not know that that time will come so terribly fast; that they will look back over the years to a happy time--that will seem like yesterday--when their business was training and filling their miraculous brains, building highly elastic muscles and making friendships that may last forever.

Alumni joined trustees for the dedication of the biomass facility in honor of Walt Wright '49 who--as a tireless Trustee--taught us that environmental practices may be economically sound practices.

 
For senior alumni, time back on campus is filled with poignant emotion, memories and wonder, wonder that the little school they once knew is bigger, grander and more complex. Yet they relish the threads on constancy, the relationships that continue to define the nature of this community.

 

We'll forgive teenagers for not really understanding the mixture of joy and sadness experienced by senior alumni. That will come with time, and there is so much of that ahead!





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