Two decades ago I was in my eighth grade year at St. Leo The Great Catholic School. That is 20 years. I do not care how old or young you are, to think back over any 20 year period is exciting and frightening all at the same time.
That right there is one reason it is frightening. That hair and those glasses are borderline awful. Although the Harry Caray glasses seem to be making a comeback these days with the emo kids. Good for them. I do not see them making a comeback on me. Oh yeah, I tried those sport goggles for a few basketball games back in the day. I would hope in 20 years they have made something more comfortable, because putting those things on felt like someone was duct taping bricks to your face.
This entire 20 year thing has come to the forefront of my life because a group of us are discussing a reunion. Oddly enough, Leo's has never had a reunion. Our class was a small one, maybe 35 kids. The vast majority of us were in class together kindergarten on to 8th grade. To an extent, I ended up parting ways with this group during freshman year of high school. Since 6th grade, I remembered telling my parents I wanted to attend Mount Tabor, the public high school in our district. After a disappointing and confusing first quarter at Bishop McGuinness, the Catholic high school in Winston-Salem, my parents finally let me transfer.
But every year at St. Leo's was fantastic. I imagine there were times where I was mean or a troublemaker. There were times where I was shy and insecure. There were times where I was athletic and times I just wasn't athletic enough. That place put a lot into this 33-year-old. It was less about the school or the fact it was a Catholic school and more about the people.
Aside from the tons of crushes I lived through from about 5-8th grade, I also had my first kisses with girls from that school. You don't forget those! We had a fairly tight class, but I know there were times where we split into cliques. Sometimes I was involved, other times not. Regardless, I do believe our class was intelligent enough to realize we were all good people.
My earliest memories are of working as the "water boy" for my mom's SLS girls basketball teams. I was in first or second grade and helped out with those teams until I was able to suit of for the jv guys team in 6th grade. Basketball was a huge part of SLS as it was, at the time, our only real varsity sport. I think they tried co-ed volleyball at some point, but hoops ruled. Not to mention, we lived in NC where everything revolved around ACC hoops.
We had this brutal concrete gym floor. I mean, once you fell it would be amazing for you to get up without something broken. They finally moved our games to the kinder wood floors at Bishop, and we had some hotly contested games vs. Mercy, IHM and Grace. Ahhhh, remembering some of those games and those gyms brings back a lot of really fun memories.
I had some great friends there too, but probably my two closest schools friends over that time were Jody and Zach. We spent countless hours together outside of school at each other's houses, playing pranks on neighbors, breaking in the new Atari, Intellivision or Nintendo, and setting up some awesome GI Joe battles. I was close with some of the other guys early on, but Jody and Zach were constants. I will never forget Jody welcoming me back to the Bishop senior prom with open arms. I was Krista's date that evening and had a heck of a time seeing old faces.
When you see reunions on tv shows it appears like the overriding theme is to outdo one another. With the thought of us all getting together 20 years later the overriding theme for me is simply to see old friends and catch up. This has the potential to be a lot of fun. Basically all of the memories I have with this people where from when we were 5-13 years of age. Add in some drinks and this could be hilarious.
Age matters not. Reflecting on 20 years is a shock. You think of the disappointments and the joys and realize life absolutely is what you made it. All of that started at St. Leo's, and I am grateful my parents sacrificed to send me there. It was a great place, and I sincerely hope we are able to pull off this reunion. If nothing else, maybe we can celebrate the fact the school finally created a sweet athletic logo.
But every year at St. Leo's was fantastic. I imagine there were times where I was mean or a troublemaker. There were times where I was shy and insecure. There were times where I was athletic and times I just wasn't athletic enough. That place put a lot into this 33-year-old. It was less about the school or the fact it was a Catholic school and more about the people.
Aside from the tons of crushes I lived through from about 5-8th grade, I also had my first kisses with girls from that school. You don't forget those! We had a fairly tight class, but I know there were times where we split into cliques. Sometimes I was involved, other times not. Regardless, I do believe our class was intelligent enough to realize we were all good people.
My earliest memories are of working as the "water boy" for my mom's SLS girls basketball teams. I was in first or second grade and helped out with those teams until I was able to suit of for the jv guys team in 6th grade. Basketball was a huge part of SLS as it was, at the time, our only real varsity sport. I think they tried co-ed volleyball at some point, but hoops ruled. Not to mention, we lived in NC where everything revolved around ACC hoops.
We had this brutal concrete gym floor. I mean, once you fell it would be amazing for you to get up without something broken. They finally moved our games to the kinder wood floors at Bishop, and we had some hotly contested games vs. Mercy, IHM and Grace. Ahhhh, remembering some of those games and those gyms brings back a lot of really fun memories.
I had some great friends there too, but probably my two closest schools friends over that time were Jody and Zach. We spent countless hours together outside of school at each other's houses, playing pranks on neighbors, breaking in the new Atari, Intellivision or Nintendo, and setting up some awesome GI Joe battles. I was close with some of the other guys early on, but Jody and Zach were constants. I will never forget Jody welcoming me back to the Bishop senior prom with open arms. I was Krista's date that evening and had a heck of a time seeing old faces.
When you see reunions on tv shows it appears like the overriding theme is to outdo one another. With the thought of us all getting together 20 years later the overriding theme for me is simply to see old friends and catch up. This has the potential to be a lot of fun. Basically all of the memories I have with this people where from when we were 5-13 years of age. Add in some drinks and this could be hilarious.
Age matters not. Reflecting on 20 years is a shock. You think of the disappointments and the joys and realize life absolutely is what you made it. All of that started at St. Leo's, and I am grateful my parents sacrificed to send me there. It was a great place, and I sincerely hope we are able to pull off this reunion. If nothing else, maybe we can celebrate the fact the school finally created a sweet athletic logo.
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