This is a collection of thoughts and remembrances from past students.
STAY WELL IN THE WINTER OF YOUR LIFE
You know time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems like yesterday that I was young, just married, and embarking on my new life with my mate. Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all those years went.
I know that I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams. But, here it is… the winter of my life, and it catches me by surprise… How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where did my youth go? I remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that those “older people” were years away from me and that winter was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.
But, here it is…my friends are retired and getting grey… they move slower and I see an older person in myself now. Some are in better and some worse shape than me… but, I see the great change… Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant…but, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we’d be.
Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore… it’s mandatory! Cause if I don’t on my own free will… I just fall asleep where I sit!
And so… now I enter this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did!! But, at least I know, that though the winter has come, and I’m not sure how long it will last… this I know, that when it’s over on this earth… it’s over. A new adventure will begin!
Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn’t done… things I should have done, but indeed, there are also many things I’m happy to have done. It’s all in a lifetime.
So, if you’re not in your winter yet… let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life, please do it quickly! Don’t put things off too long!! Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can TODAY, as you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!
You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life… so, LIVE FOR TODAY and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember.. and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past!!
“Life” is a GIFT to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one.
Remember: “It is Health that is real Wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”
~Your kids are becoming you……but your grandchildren are perfect!
~Going out is good.. coming home is even better!
~You forget names… but it’s OK, because other people forgot they even knew you!!!
~You realize you’re never going to be really good at anything…. especially golf.
~The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don’t care to do them anymore.
~You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring than in bed. It’s called “pre-sleep.”
~You miss the days when everything worked with just an “ON” and “OFF” switch..
~You tend to use more 4 letter words … “what?”…”when?”…???
~Now that you can afford expensive jewelry, it’s not safe to wear it anywhere.
~You notice everything they sell in stores is “sleeveless?!”
~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.
~Everybody whispers.
~You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet…. 2 of which you will never wear.
~But “Old” is good in some things:
Old Songs, Old movies …
and best of all, our dear …OLD FRIENDS!!
Stay well, “OLD FRIENDS!”
This contribution was made by Betty Anne McGinnis… for the Retired Teachers Newsletter and is re-published here with her permission.
In June 2018 I added another first to my life experiences. I attended a high school reunion. Not only did I attend, I volunteered to work on the planning committee. During that process I became reacquainted with students with whom I had graduated in 1968. Fifty years ago. Just writing those words still causes me to marvel at the passage of time. On the evening of June 15, we gathered at the Spryfield Legion with almost 240 former BC students. It was overwhelming to say the least. Chatter and laughter filled the room. Immense amounts of food and drink disappeared as people caught up on the past fifty years. And for the vast majority, it had been fifty years since we had seen each other. Graduates in 1968 had scattered far and wide to pursue a multitude of careers. We were honoured to have five former teachers attend the function. I have a feeling they enjoyed the opportunity to reunite even more than we did. The following day, a beautiful sunny afternoon, we boarded The Silva for a harbour cruise. Later that evening a dinner and dance were on the agenda. This was a high school dance all over again. Swinging to the 60s. Maybe a bit more slowly than we had done at one time. But undoubtedly showing more skill, an indication that dance lessons had been part of the growing up process. After the final good byes had been said, there was time for reflection. Many people hesitate to attend reunions for various reasons. They don’t wish to discuss their working or personal history. They feel their bodies have betrayed them by growing older, more wrinkled, heavier, and weaker. And hair…if they still have any…had changed significantly. We tend to feel embarrassment at these changes in ourselves. But standing among 240 people who likely felt similar concerns was an eye opener. We had all changed! Some more than others. Health had taken its toll on many. But we were still those kids who had attended that small Spryfield high school fifty years ago and we were back together. Perhaps more than anything else to make us appreciate the opportunity to be together was the realization that many faces were missing. We remembered them in silence and then we celebrated our reunion just as they would have, had they still been with us.
Why am I telling you about my high school reunion? I believe it gave me a stronger sense of myself. An appreciation for who I am and where I am in life, while still honoring my roots. I am so grateful that I pushed my limits and became part of the BC Silver Reunion 2018. Old friends have become new friends. Old memories are cherished and new memories are being created as many remain in contact with each other. I encourage you to seize the opportunity to attend your own reunions, either as former students or former teachers. We are fortunate to have two options. You might be pleasantly surprised.
The Way We Were – 1968
50thAnniversary of the Class of ’68
It is so hard to believe that we have become the age of our elders before us! How did this happen? We thought we would always be young, we were never going to grow old. My favorite saying is “I’m too damn young to be this damn old”. But, the joke’s on me. Lol
This year we are celebrating the 50th year reunion of B.C. Silver High – 1968-2018, but it’s really for all of us who ever attended grades 9 to 12. It’s about us! It should be a blast finding long lost pals at the events. And it will be two exciting days leaving us with a lifetime of memories.
Many of us left high school earlier than some. Regardless of when we left, we all craved to start our lives. Moving in many directions, a lot of us got jobs right away. Some headed to various universities, colleges and business schools. We started etching out our lives.
As the years passed we started families, mortgaged houses, bought cars, moved away, got promotions, and joined the military. We became doctors, mechanics, contractors, plumbers, teachers, engineers, farmers, fishermen, musicians, entrepreneurs, or entered one of hundreds of other professions. Some friends travelled the world, some of us never ventured any farther than their own communities. Our paths followed different directions.
It should be very interesting at this reunion of the ‘sixties teens’. We came through most of the sixties doing what we thought was the most exciting years for the Boomer Generation. We teens were choosers of the music, the writers of the songs, the makers of the future, creators of the ‘toys’ and the leaders of the votes.
We came through it! We carved it! We demanded it! The sexual revolution meant summers of love and freedom. Drives to Sunnyside on hot steamy nights, eating burgers, fries and coke, which really meant you were a part of the IN CROWD. There were corner stores in all the villages where teenagers hung out for something to do. Trips to Crystal Crescent Beach in Sambro and Pennent meant bonfires with blaring music coming from open car doors. I had my first taste of Lemon Gin at that beach. Not wise though…I still can’t stand the smell of the stuff. lol
Our links to each other meant that we arrived in early mornings from small villages. The big yellow school buses groaned to a halt every day as they delivered us to classes at B.C. Silver High School in Spryfield. We came primarily from the western areas of Halifax. The villages included Purcell’s Cove, Ferguson Cove, Herring Cove, Portuguese Cove, Ketch Harbour, Sambro, with East and West Pennent. We often brought overnight cases and hitched rides on each other’s buses so we could go to their villages for the weekends; then reversed to get home on our own buses, and headed to our own villages. You would never get away with that today…so many rules now.
Our school had been built in 1961 and to our minds it represented a wonderful new place to learn, to make friends, to join sports or clubs and to convene every day making new pals and growing up together for three or four years.
By: Cecilia Brooks [Schnare]
Final farewell… by Eddy Jack… As webmaster for the BC Silver reunion I dedicate this story to all my fellow students…
The reunion is over and all the feedback has been very positive…
The following story is one that really happened but may have gone unnoticed by fellow students.
It was grade 12 math class with Miss Fancy… As you may recall, Miss Fancy was very young but a no-nonsense kind of person. Her short skirts were what most of the guys remember… In fact 1 or 2 of the boys, NOT ME, took it on themselves to write things on the very top of the blackboard just before she arrived to class… She, of course, would need to erase this before she got started… You see where I am going with this… She eventually caught onto this shenanigan and had one of the taller boys, erase the blackboard before she started… She NEVER had me do this … For reasons that will become clear later.
I always did very well in math class and was on several occasions asked by Miss Fancy to help other students… I don’t know if I was a “teacher’s pet” but she certainly liked me.
When the staff were choosing who would go to the 67 world’s fair in Montreal, she campaigned for me, but Allen Goodyear was chosen… The only reason I know this was because my best friend Barry was chosen and she felt sorry for me and wanted me to know she supported me.
Now for the point of this story…
One day in math class, I was sitting next to Jackie Lanigan, as usual… Jackie was also pretty good in math so Miss Fancy didn’t mind if we talked to each other, she seem to ignore us… For the most part.
The bell rings to end the class and I get up from my seat and start toward the door… At that moment Jackie makes the decision to “belt” me in the arm… I cannot remember if it was a closed fist this time or a slap… But it was something I had become accustomed to since grade 2, when she hit me with her skipping rope. The skipping rope incidents affected my mother much more than me… Whenever Jackie’s name was mentioned my mother would say… “Is that the bad girl that hit you with her skipping rope?”… Some mothers never forget…
Well, almost immediately, Miss Fancy call out “EDWARD”, and asked me to remain after class… Now I knew I couldn’t be in trouble, because this teacher actually liked me… I was very puzzled…
After everyone had left the room and I was close to her desk… She says, “I have noticed you getting hit by several girls. Is there a problem? What’s going on?” She was concerned that I was being bullied… Here I was at 6’ 2” being bullied by a 5 foot nothing, Jackie Lanigan… Or so she thought… She apparently saw other girls hitting me also on other occasions, and asked “Why are the girls hitting you?”
Well at this point my mind was racing trying to come up with some reasonable explanation for the assaults. My mind was a BLANK… but I remember thinking… Say something… ANYTHING… But don’t get the girls in trouble…
My only response was “They were not very good at accepting insults”.
She gave me a funny look and belted me in the arm… Saying “GET OUT”…
It was never spoken of again.