45th Reunion, BHS Class of 1959

Hope, Possibility and Potential

Hope, possibility, perseverance and history have all converged upon our country. I watched yesterday morning with excitement and emotion the inauguration ceremony of our new President, Barack Obama! YES! Yesterday was the dawn and beginning of a new chapter for our country. I feel there is hope. Yes... times will be difficult. Yes... there is much work to be done and many wounds to be healed. But... finally we have a leader with the visionary insight to be the man in charge of our country... eminently capable of inspiring and leading us through these challenging times. The image of my granddaughter Danielle, made when she was a mere 5 months old, tells the story of our collective promise, possibility and potential ... as well as the story of growing up and facing all the challenges and learning inherent along that journey.
If... we all pitch in and work together, following our new President's lead, then yes... Yes... We Can! Oh, Yeah!!! Let us all work together to preserve this great country for our grandchildren and for ourselves. I'm ready and I'm willing... Are you?

The Land That Made Me... Me

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,

Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.

There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,

For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,

Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We learned to gut a muffler, we washed our hair at dawn,

We spread our crinolines to dry in circles on the lawn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,

And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

We danced to 'Little Darlin' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'

And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me... Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,

And only boys wore flattop cuts, except for Jean McKinny.

And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see

A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me... Me.

We fell for frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,

And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.

We didn't have a star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and three,

Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me... Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,

And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a mister Wizard, But not a Mr. T,

And Oprah could't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me... Me.

We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,

At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,

And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me... Me.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,

And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson, and Zeppelins were not Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,

Madonna was a virgin in the Land That Made Me... Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,

And babies might be bottle-fed, but they weren't grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,

And dorms were never coed in the Land That Made Me... Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,

And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,

And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me... Me.

Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,

And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,

And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me... Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,

We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea

Or prime-time ads for condoms in the Land That Made Me... Me.

There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,

And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.

And Middle-age was 35 and old was forty-three,

And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me... Me.

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,

And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.

They send us invitations to the BHS Class Of 59 Fiftieth Reunion,

We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me... Me.

So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,

And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,

Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me... Me.

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