1975 (What's In A Year?)

I can hardly believe it, but this school year is almost over, and we have two high school graduates in our family this year. And as crazy as that seems, little old Nova was a newly minted high school graduate in 1975, a full 50 years ago.

My god. 50 years. A half a century. And since I'm pretty good at making a Blog out of nothing, here goes another one.

It can be argued that graduating from High School is a pivotal experience in any teenager's life. It sure was in mine. This is the cover of my Yearbook, and I took the liberty of photographing the pages of all the 1975 graduates, all 75 of us. A little known and totally unimportant fact.

"75 in '75"

Wasn't I a dish?

It's the year I became engaged.

The year I started my first job.

I got my first car in 1975, a 1969 Strato-Chief, an enormous beast of a car. But I paid for it, and it was mine. I sure wish I'd gotten one of the license plates that said "Drive alive in '75."

A lot of things can happen in 50 years. In my case, it just feels like it was yesterday.

But I was a self-absorbed teenager in 1975 with no real interest beyond buying the latest Mood Ring at Larter's Pharmacy, so with the lens of time, (and Google) what else was going on in the world, I wonder.....

Can you believe that the CN Tower was completed and opened in 1975? Me either!

"JAWS" made it's debut, and to this day, it still gives me shivers. It redefined a lot of theatre and it still holds up.

Monsieur Pierre Trudeau was our Prime Minister and it was the year of switching Canada over to the Metric System. I mean, I liked him and all that, but I'm not sure even today if I forgave him for that..............

50 years ago saw the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a haunting Canadian story even today, thanks to Gordon Lightfoot.

Saturday Night Live debuted and became part of our culture, and in Hockey news the Philadelphia Flyers took the Stanley Cup that year.

And the lowly Beaver, a shy rodent, became synonymous with Canada's national identity, 50 years ago. Jeez, why not the majestic Polar Bear..............

I skipped back to 1925, 100 years ago, the world wasn't as busy as it is today.

Charlie Chaplin was the most popular person in the world, The Grand Ole Opry opened, and women got the vote in Newfoundland. Imagine. What would they ever do with that?......

When having a look at my 1975 graduating class, a few of these faces will look familiar, and the rest won't. One or two have passed away, most have moved away, and as I always told my kids as they passed through the hallowed halls for the final time, there will be kids you went to school with for the four years at Souris High that you will never see again.

That's life.

Since our two Grads are in two different High Schools, we'll somehow have to figure out a way to see both. I am so proud of them and the solid plans they are making, all the while knowing that at 17, who ever knew what they wanted to be when they grew up? I'm 68 and I still don't know.

When the big day came in 1975, it was a pretty simple and straightforward affair. A down and dirty rehearsal in that big cold gym with Mr. Fogarty. And a few days later, the BIG event. The Prom.

At graduation, since I had no parents, I didn't realize until much later how pitiful that must have seemed. Nobody to come and watch me receive that diploma. Momma didn't go either, she just wasn't up to it. Jamie brought me to the affair, I got my precious diploma, and then I left. No gifts. No pictures. No parties either. If you can even believe it, I wasn't one of the cool kids, so I got no invites.

I remember Jamie and I going to a bonfire on Souris Beach where a few kids were, and my cousin Sheldon Perry was there and we chatted for a bit. Funny the things you remember.

It sure is different now. I couldn't count all the ways. I just hope and pray that everyone has a good time, a safe time, and with today's technology, there will be a million pictures. Of. Every. Little. Thing.

That's enough for today. First batch of Jam is in the basement fridge, Rhubarb & Pineapple. Yummee. As Suzette said, "and so it starts....."