Another Reunion

In November of 1969, my father was transferred with the Army from Taipei, Taiwan to SHAPE Belgium. SHAPE stood for Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe. Essentially, it was the headquarters for NATO, which had previously been housed in Paris and was moved to Mons, Belgium a couple of years before we arrived. The Class of 1968 was the first graduating class from the school in Belgium.

I was in the 3rd grade when we moved. We lived there until November of 1972, when my father was reassigned to Ft. Gordon, Georgia, from whence he eventually retired. My only brother, Chuck, graduated from SHAPE in 1971 and my oldest sister, Tenny, graduated in December of 1972, early, staying behind and living with family friends so she could finish out the semester and graduate, joining us in the states for Christmas. So, our family boasts two alumni of SHAPE American High School.

The thing about being the youngest of five is that I knew all my siblings friends and classmates. On a military base in a foreign country, most everyone knew each other and there was a strong sense of comraderie, a tight bond that most Americans have never experienced. Add that to the ages of my siblings and the fact that most of the military families were large and my friends often had older brothers or sisters that were friends of my siblings, and we all seemed like one big, happy (albeit sometimes trying) family.

Since most of the graduates of SHAPE return to the States eventually, over the years there have been SHAPE Reunions hosted in different parts of the U.S. My two oldest sisters attended one in Arizona in 1989 and had a wonderful time. They reconnected with many old friends and there were even a few of my friends who attended. This past weekend, a SHAPE Reunion was held in Myrtle Beach, SC - a 4-hour drive from us. My brother, who hasn't seen many of his high school classmates since graduation, decided to go. My middle sister, Toni, also decided to go. Half an hour before they planned on leaving, I threw my name into the mix, hurriedly packed, and headed out with them.

The organizer, one of Chuck's classmates, had rented several houses in North Myrtle Beach. One very-large, 3-story home with a pool (right ON the beach, as were all the homes that housed the attendees), was the hospitality suite. All the meals were served there, buffet-style. Everyone milled around the decks, living rooms and kitchen, visiting with old friends and other alumni who lived in SHAPE during a different timeframe. We got reacquainted with old friends, we visited with siblings of our friends, and we made new friends. It really was a wonderful way to do a Reunion.

I was amazed how many people I recognized. Many of them look the same. From all over the room, you'd see someone stick out there hand and hear, "Who are YOU?" being repeated over and over. It would've been nice to have had nametags, but someone said, "It's more fun this way - it makes you think and you reach out to even people you didn't know." There was even one graduate from my class, although he arrived in SHAPE after we had already left. We sat on the couch together, poring over Annuals, refreshing our memories to all the people we had spent those years with. Although he was there after me, we knew and had been good friends with many of the same people.

I found it a little surprising how many of these women had married military men and how many of the men had gone into military service. It seemed like half of them had been fighter pilots. Many had seen combat and it was a little weird talking with kids that we grew up with and hearing stories from them that sounded much like my father's. Lots of them had stayed in touch over the years. There was one guy there who had been the HUNK of the high school. He dated one of the prettiest girls in school and they married after returning to the States. She's still beautiful and he still has that easy smile although he's lost all his hair (which was very long and a lovely color of light brown in high school). The man's younger brother was a good friend of mine and had been scheduled to come to the reunion, backing out at the last minute. Saturday evening, Scott told me he had spoken to Mark on the phone and told him I was there. Mark had sent along well-wishes for me. I told Scott to tell him he'd better be at the next Reunion.

My favorite part was watching my brother, eyes shining with memories and the rekindling of friendships, sitting around with a group of his buddies from high school talking about motorcycles. Chuck was always looked up to by the younger guys and that is still happening. I overheard some women talking about taking pictures "on Chuck's motorcycle" and giggling like schoolgirls. I was standing visiting with people several times when Chuck walked by and there was a real sense of deference and respect towards him.

Toni and I were given a bedroom in another beach house about a mile further up the beach. Turns out, the other people assigned to that house were all classmates of hers. We headed back to our house around 10:30 Saturday night. The noise, heat, and crowds at the main house were a little much for us. I planned on climbing into bed and reading for awhile before going to sleep. Toni was hoping to visit with her friends.

When we got to the house, everyone had gathered in the living room. There were just enough couches and easy chairs for all of us. The whole group sat in the living room telling stories, talking about other classmates and where they are now, and reminiscing. It was such fun, I hung out for another two hours. I couldn't get over seeing my sister sitting with the same people, all these years later. Periodically, I'd glance around and couldn't hide my smile. There really was something amazing about seeing all those people again.

Someday, I'm going to spend some time thinking about the impact of three short years on the rest of my life but, for now, the dryer stopped and I've got lots of wash to finish. And, after I start the next load, I need to go to Facebook and see if anyone's posted pictures yet.