Blast from the Past

Last night I went to an "informal" high school reunion. It was for the classes of 1980-1985 at St. Paul Central High School. It was held at O'Gara's in St. Paul. This was a great way to do a reunion, minimal cost (only what you ordered at O'Gara's), no pressure, come whenever, wear whatever.
I took my boys to O'Gara's in December. They said, "This is a good restaurant, Mom, how did you know it was here?" Because I GREW UP in that neighborhood! They were floored to find out I had a life before they were born. It was one of the first bars in which I tried out the new fake ID. We were pretty sure that if we turned our class rings around backwards, they looked like wedding rings, and therefore made us look older. Yeah, that fooled EVERYONE!

This is my BFF Maureen. We have been friends since 6th grade, (35 years by my count). If you do not have a friend of 35 years standing, my advice to you is to go and get one! Our parents were friends, our sisters were friends, our brothers were roomates, you get the picture, lots of history. Nobody can make me laugh like Maureen. We have been kicked out of shopping malls for laughing like hyenas! For a while, we tried on hats in every store. We both look silly in hats, Reen looks like Eliza Doolittle and I look like Mr. Ed. Each hat was funnier than the one before until, tears of laughter running down our faces, we were thrown out! Seriously, we were ROTFL. They probably thought we were off our meds. Maureen moves around a lot, she's a nomad elementary school teacher. Still, whether we are in the same state or not, we pick up our converstion right where we left off and keep going. Although we went to different high schools our senior year, Maureen and I (unknowingly) picked the same prom dress! (Gunnesax, of course!) It was Maureen who insisted we go to this reunion (and kept telling me, "You look just fine, build a bridge and get over it!") If you will recall, it rained like cats and dogs Saturday night, so I had that whole "drowned rat" look going for me. Anyway, we reconnected with lots of old friends.

One of our old friends was Norbert. I dated him when I was a a junior and he was a senior, something like that. We had nice dates, until he DUMPED ME! He told me he was breaking up with me because he "didn't want to sin"! For the record, I had NO INTENTION of sinning with Norbert (whom my family calls "Nerdbert" to this day.) Maureen said it was just that I was so cute, he couldn't stand the temptation. Don't ya love her? Anyway, Norbert is a very nice man, devoted to his wife and 6 children, so it all worked out. (Almost makes me sorry I told everyone he was becoming a priest!)

Next, Henry stopped by to chat. I dated Henry when I was a sophomore and he was a senior. My parents had a cow. My mother called Henry "that hood" because he wore a black leather jacket and smoked! It was like dating Fonzie. When Henry dumped me (to go to prom with Michelle M.) he gave me the whole, "it's not you, it's me" speech. Actually, he was very nice about it, but apparently felt bad because he apologized for the dumping last night! I assured him I was well over it and even had fun that prom night without him. Maureen was not helping and jokingly said that if Mike "Rook" Rogalski showed up, the trifecta of Kellet-dumpers would be complete!

Do you think that I dated mob guys, since everybody had a nickname? Mostly, it was my family. One young man showed up at a party at my house proudly sporting a sparse beard. My mother still calls him "old three hairs"!

The table we sat at started filling up with band people, choir people and drama people (I was a three time geek!) it was so nice to see them all. We caught up with each other and missed the people who were gone for good. On the way out the door, I saw Kathy Hallinan and gave her a big hug. She had no idea who I was. Awkward. When we got to the parking lot, Maureen and I figured out that I was thinking of PATTY Hallinan! (Hallinans are thick on the ground in St. Paul). Good thing we left.

How's it going teaching Nate to drive? Could be better. We were planning on cutting down this tree anyway.

I was looking for a "retro" recipe for you. This is one of Grandma Louise's. Refrigerator pickles are pretty old fashioned, you can tell when it has the notation, "A good keeper", meaning it lasts a long time in storage.

Kind of like old friendships, worth keeping!










Refrigerator Pickles

7 cups unpeeled, sliced cucumbers
1 cup sliced onions
1 cup green pepper rings (optional, in my opinion)
1 Tbls salt
1 cup vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbls celery seed

Mix everything and store in refrigerator. Can be eaten in 2 days. A good keeper.