Notes from a trip back in time

Tampa columnist HOOPER E-mail: Click here Archive

© St. Petersburg Times
published July 11, 2002

It was only appropriate that somewhere between Bushnell and Wildwood we saw a DeLorean rolling down Interstate 75.

Thanks to Michael J. Fox, there is no car that better symbolizes the trip I made to my 20th high school reunion last week. It was back to the future for me and Fred Skinner and David Adams, three Tallahassee natives who have ended up in Tampa Bay.

Godby High's Class of '82 was convening again and were we giddy. I expected that from Skinner, who built an army of friends in high school with a wit he seldom reveals to the employees he supervises at the Home Depot at Gandy and Dale Mabry today. David, an IBM network engineer, didn't even graduate from Godby, but jumped at the chance to see the middle school pals he left behind when his family moved to Cross City.

But there wasn't a person more excited than me.

After all, it was me who petitioned the Legislature to add a 13th grade when I realized I had to graduate. And it was me who stayed up until 3 a.m. the night before the reunion putting the soundtrack of my youth on a CD.

And it was me who concluded this reunion was the closest I would come to traveling back in time to the days of the Sugarhill Gang and Rick Springfield.

Of course, it must be noted the DeLorean was dented, rusty and sitting on top of a flatbed tow truck.

Hey, we've all aged a little.

You always have in mind the people you want to see at reunions. For me, there was Jeanie Hartsfield, the salutatorian who never had a mean word for anyone. And Liza Baker, who helped convince me to try out for the school play.

I had a few cheesy lines prepared for Melissa Georgieff, who shared biggest flirt honors with me as a senior. And a hug was in store for Thaxter Denefield, who threw dirt in my 12-year-old face because I scuffed up his new Pro Keds. Moments like that only inspire laughter two decades later.

And there was Mike Cobb, my best friend from Hawaii who wanted to fly to this side of the world for my mom's funeral in April. I talked him into holding off for a happier time, and so he showed up for the reunion.

I saw them all and reveled in the memories.

But it was just as much fun to see faces you hadn't anticipated. Kevin Barineau had shaved all his hair off, but I still remembered his goofy smile from French class. Authurene Jones looked so modelesque I almost forgot Skinner hit her in the head with a softball during P.E. Almost.

In fact, I found myself immersed in conversation with people I barely spoke to during four years of high school. Things change when you realize the last time you saw them, you didn't have a mortgage, deadlines and a waistline equal to your age.

Built on a drained swamp just west of Florida State in 1969, Godby was not and has never been Tallahassee's most popular high school. If the county has a flagship high school, it was Leon then and maybe Chiles now.

Heck, we marveled at the auditorium during a school tour because when we were there, we had to piece together a makeshift plywood stage and jam it into the cafeteria for school productions.

But maybe what made our school and our class special is that we weren't. We were down to earth, we were unprententious, and we were as free of cliques as a place full of adolescents could hope to be.

That's all I'm saying.

-- Ernest Hooper can be reached at 226-3406 or Hooper@sptimes.com.

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