Launched but not anchored

My high school graduation was exciting: Seniors were sort of looked up to by the underclass students, especially freshman (going by my own feeling when I was a "Freshie").

After final exams were over there was the tension of "lets get it over with and get on with the fun" such as walk out day, play practice, committee meetings, getting measured for Caps and Gowns, etc.  I was not a top dog in the class but at the time that didn't seem to bother me. One of my most exciting things was the decision that the girls were to wear evening gowns to the Junior-Senior banquet. Hopefully that was not my top priority, and I wondered what my mom and dad might say. Nevertheless, I "secretly" started looking through Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward catalogues.

Back to the various activities and meetings and practice for the big event. There were the class historians, the class prophecy person, and someone to read the last will and testament.

The theme at the banquet was A Ship at Sea, showing a pirate, of all things. The "menu": hard tack and fish oil, roast whale, mashed coral with sea sauce, eel salad, and rum. The real menu: fruit cocktail, creamed chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, pineapple salad, rolls & butter, ice-cream, mints, nuts, and coffee.

The history of our first year read in part: There entered into the spacious halls of learning,four and twenty seekers of knowledge. The fourth year, and so it came to pass, that 15 of us have been spared the perils of this hazardous journey in quest of knowledge, having attained the different fruits of knowledge obtainable in this most noble institution, we are leaving for a field of higher learning and for many different occupations. Class prophecy (mine): Did you hear what my chum Gladys Fisher is doing now?  No, what is she doing? Why, she's a radio announcer in New York earning around $300 a month. You know she never married. Everyone thought she'd be one of the first. Of course there is plenty of time yet. (Nope, I wasn't.) Last Will and Testament: We give and bequeath to the Junior Class the position as Seniors, the west basement classroom, as well as all chewing gum on chairs and tables. Number 9 on the list: To Dorothy Y., Gladys Fisher leaves her calm disposition (Ha! Wonder where it went?)

There were special numbers such as poems, speeches, music, and jokes. Margaret C. and I sang "At the End of a Sunset Trail" I think. Can't quite remember as we sang other songs on two or three occasions.

After mom and dad got over the shock about the dress, I got a surprise. Dad took me to Maryville and bought it, a gold color with a full skirt and pretty trim. I'd never heard them discuss our financial situation but just knew that we didn't get everything. I didn't get to order my Senior picture nor the one with the class in our cap and gowns. Not every one did. Remember, this was in those 1930s.

After the dinner and program everyone went home, or wherever, and the following Sunday evening we went to the Christian church for our graduation ceremony. A Mr. Harmon from Hopkins gave the baccalaureate sermon and Mr. Bert Cooper of Maryville College delivered the class address, "The One Way Out". I want to mention that our class motto was: "Launched But Not Anchored".

After the class address, we all said our goodbyes.

It was Sweet Sorrow (sort of…).

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