The rain, as it pattered on the roof of the patio on Aug. 13, only seemed to add to the depression.
It had been there all day like a lingering doubt. Perhaps understandable, having gone through two reunions over a weekend, one for the Boulder Fairview High School Class of 1976 and one for the 40th anniversary of the Boulder Rugby Football Club.
Certainly physical fatigue could have played a part, as well. Managing to get up to play tennis early Saturday and Sunday had not been easy.
But doubt played a part, as well. In some lives, there is plenty of room for that.
Still it had been nothing but sheer fun. Starting with not being able to find the class reunion golf tournament, agreeing to play in the rugby tournament only to find they both started at 8 a.m. Aug. 11 at Boulder's Flatiron Golf Course. Finding
Elizabeth Korn on the golf course - a first friend from Boulder back in 1967 or 1968 - had been a joy.
Incredibly, both the ruggers and the reunionists were heading to the Dark Horse afterwards. From Fairview, a lot of old friends were there:
Kevin Kudrna,
Greg Weithoner,
Mark Hopkins,
Richard Love,
Mike Kudal, Elizabeth,
Steve Hanson and
Amy (Titchenal) Holland, to name a few.
At Roger Miller's house afterwards, it was surprising to see a very hippieish
Lloyd Hyden.
Mike Higgins had the coolest job around, working for either the state or the city of New York's Attorney General.
Scott Fitzgerald, a favorite guy with whom to play some smash-mouth football, was holding forth on hunting and fishing issues.
By the time some showed up at the old Harvest House Friday night, some were too fatigued to be much good. Still, they staggered on to Dolan's afterward, with the women there -
Tammy Berardi and
Mary (Gould) Klein seem to come to mind - seemingly in much better shape than the guys late in the evening.
Except for Greg Weithoner, once known for assorted craziness, now among the most sane.
The Fairview reunion itself, held at D-Barn in Longmont, brought out a couple of hundred people, counting spouses. At the door, the friendly face of
Cyndi (Hathaway) Eakins, from Excalibur.
The only other Excalibur vet to show was
Diana (Followwill) Heffenstein, who reported adopting a child about seven years back, though noting that she and her husband, Mike, had worked very, very hard at having their own.
Strange not to see other Excaliburites.
Beth, D'Arlyne, what's up?
Lots of people living in Texas now, Austin in particular. What's up with that?
Cindy Logan doing well up in Fort Collins, where her son will be attending CSU next year. Also from the Table Table neighborhood
Cindy (Spoerl) Harris and
Kathy (Dayhoff) Hodapp.
Carrie Pigano, she of international modeling fame, still seemed very much the nice girl from ninth grade.
The party went pretty long, and there were lots of other faces, all friendly if not instantly recognized. Lots of interesting conversations, one of which went like this. "Yeah, I'm living in California, how 'bout you. Well, I'm living in California, what are you doing there? I'm selling real estate. Really? I'm selling real estate."
There were few recriminations here, at such advanced age. But on Sunday, as the rain began to beat on the patio roof, the memories of the weekend seemed to tug a little at the heart.
Until, finally, they brought about a laugh upon discovering the source of depression.
It was time to start missing these people again.
Editor's note: Special thanks to reunion organizer Bill Dombrowski for help with the names. E-mail corrections to
thomasj@yourhub.com.