I have so much to write about that I am going to have to break the next couple of posts up in sections. They will be centered around my recent trip to Boston and my hometown of Wellesley during the Thanksgiving week.
I have not been back to Boston and Wellesley, the town I grew up in, since my Dad passed away in 2001. I certainly was in no mood during that time to enjoy poking around the town and visiting some old, familiar faces and places. This recent trip back was a wonderful, action-packed 7 days. Filled with surprises. There was a lot going in Wellesley during the week leading up to Thanksgiving. My old high school is going to be demolished soon to make way for a new beautiful one, which is already pretty much built on what was once, the school parking lot. The old high school will be turned into the new parking lot. Some people in town, including Brooks and Jeannie Goddard, English teachers for many, many years, spear-headed a wonderful series of events called Turn Out The Lights. They invited back all alumni, some famous, some not so famous, some who have risen to the top of their chosen fields, to come back and hold seminars and workshops for current students. Some events were open to the public. During the day on Tuesday, the workshops and seminars where available for students only. My brother Jay (class of 76) was a presenter and did a great job discussing the importance of social media and how it relates to story-telling. I missed this as I got into town later in the day, but our sister Susie,(class of 73) snuck in and said it was a great workshop. Tuesday evening was wonderful. First time I had been back in the High School in years! Hasn’t changed a bit. Went to the auditorium to hear the following 4 alumni speak about “US Foreign Policy”: Making It, Executing It, Analyzing It and Covering It. Have to say, Wellesley has turned out some pretty impressive alumni.
First up was my fellow classmate, Nick Burns, (class of 74). Here’s just a peak at his resume: US Ambassador to NATO, US Ambassador to Greece, State Department Spokesman, and currently is Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and Faculty Chair. Best of all, he was a nice guy in high school and still is today! Next up was Sean Carberry, (class of 87) a radio journalist who is currently a producer on the foreign desk of NPR, Jeff Fager, (class of 73) the first chairman of CBS News, a former exec. producer of the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, and part of the original team that developed “48 Hours” on CBS. The last participant was Aneesh Raman, (class of 97). He worked for CNN as Middle East Correspondent, and is currently a speechwriter for the White House. It was a very interesting, fun night. After the evening was over, we stuck around and tried to find people we knew or recognized. Haven’t seen most of these people since I was 16 or 17! That night was great – saw the following people: Debbie Carlton, Susie Muirhead, Dorothy Duffy, Mary Lou Mahoney, Skye Rykerson, to name a few. Bo Morgan was one of my favorites! We used to play army together and ring doorbells and ditch – now she is a lawyer. We just gave each other the biggest hug. Her eyes and smile are just the same as when we were eight. Said hello to Nick and met his beautiful wife and daughter. Introduced myself to Aneesh and met his parents. What a nice young man he is. The next day, had lunch with one of my favorite childhood friends, Pam Peirson Emslie, who is now a Minister at the church in the square in downtown Wellesley. We laughed and cried talking to each other for a couple of hours. Dropped in on my old friend and prom date, Albert DePrisco, owner of DePrisco Jeweler’s. He was out of the store that day. Susie and I re-visted Abbott Road and some of our old favorites.
Susie in front of the old park tree.
84 Abbott Road. My bedroom was on the third floor, the gray area with the 3 windows.
The Barn, that became my parents home after selling the big house.
Pointing to my Dad's name and John Peirson's name on the date they won the Adams Bowl at the Wellesley CC.
One of the reason’s I am smiling is that I remember the day my father and Mr. Peirson won that tournament. It was neck and neck in the final round and I made it to the club for the last couple of holes to watch. There was a small crowd following them as they played. I was so nervous and praying they won because I had to tell my father some bad news.( I had just gotten fired from my job at the Natick McDonald’s – I was apparently seen by management ducking under the counter when people came up to my register, and not waiting on people like everyone else was.) Thank goodness, they won the tournament – I can still remember how happy and excited my father was. I told him later that night, before they went out to celebrate, about my latest goof -up and he didn’t care – I didn’t even get yelled at. Have to be honest – not sure if I like the new look of the WCC. Especially the new logo. Gone is the carriage and the new one looks like a Star Trek logo.
Next up – Thanksgiving at my cousin’s house.