Maroubra Bay High School came and went. Now we're having a reunion and old friendships are being revived.
Friday, 22. August 2008, 23:14:18
Met up with Jeff, earlier this week. Had not seen him since we finished at Maroubra Bay High School, early in December, 1961.
As I did with Terry Turner, we arranged to meet and have lunch at the Pavillion Bachfront, restaurant, on the promonade, at Maroubra Beach.
Just as it had been when meeting up with Terry again, I looked closely (Something which I normally don't do.) at the few middle-aged men who were in the area.
Jeff had said on the phone that he'd changed. So, I had no idea how big the tummy would be. How bald the head, etc..
But he recognised me first. I heard him call out my former Dutch name.
We had a very pleasant lunch. Caught up on a lot of gossip and then took the same stroll as I'd done with Terry, up the main street, to the grassed area, east of the housing complex that has replaced the high school and outside the fence of the primary school.
Again I took the photos at the same spot as I'd done, of myself for the 2003 reunion and of Terry when we were there and now of Jeff.
while I was still teaching, particularly in recent years, I would have had alarm bells ringing in my head, if, while on playground duty, I'd seen two middle-aged men, taking snapshots outside the school's fence.
Really a little sad that it's come to that.
Meanwhile, the contact has been re-established and that's good.
Jeff doesn't remember. Perhaps it had more impact on me, when I arrived practically fresh from the Netherlands, end of the summer holidays, in January 1957, at South Sydney Boys Junior High, speaking very little English.
As I was for the friendship of a boy, called Michael Grieve (I fell for his sister, Laura!), I was grateful for Jeff's friendship because it took a little patience for them to communicate with me.
It strikes me, that after a break of almost half a century, we (Terry, Jeff, me and others....) all still have such strong connections- / feelings connected- with those teenage years at "Heartbreak High" (After MBHS was closed down, the setting was used for the first series of the TV show.)
So much is decided in those years, to shape the rest of our lives!
7th March, 2009 Shannon Room, AJC, Randwick.
As I did with Terry Turner, we arranged to meet and have lunch at the Pavillion Bachfront, restaurant, on the promonade, at Maroubra Beach.
Just as it had been when meeting up with Terry again, I looked closely (Something which I normally don't do.) at the few middle-aged men who were in the area.
Jeff had said on the phone that he'd changed. So, I had no idea how big the tummy would be. How bald the head, etc..
But he recognised me first. I heard him call out my former Dutch name.
We had a very pleasant lunch. Caught up on a lot of gossip and then took the same stroll as I'd done with Terry, up the main street, to the grassed area, east of the housing complex that has replaced the high school and outside the fence of the primary school.
Again I took the photos at the same spot as I'd done, of myself for the 2003 reunion and of Terry when we were there and now of Jeff.
while I was still teaching, particularly in recent years, I would have had alarm bells ringing in my head, if, while on playground duty, I'd seen two middle-aged men, taking snapshots outside the school's fence.
Really a little sad that it's come to that.
Meanwhile, the contact has been re-established and that's good.
Jeff doesn't remember. Perhaps it had more impact on me, when I arrived practically fresh from the Netherlands, end of the summer holidays, in January 1957, at South Sydney Boys Junior High, speaking very little English.
As I was for the friendship of a boy, called Michael Grieve (I fell for his sister, Laura!), I was grateful for Jeff's friendship because it took a little patience for them to communicate with me.
It strikes me, that after a break of almost half a century, we (Terry, Jeff, me and others....) all still have such strong connections- / feelings connected- with those teenage years at "Heartbreak High" (After MBHS was closed down, the setting was used for the first series of the TV show.)
So much is decided in those years, to shape the rest of our lives!
7th March, 2009 Shannon Room, AJC, Randwick.
WIDGETIZE