David Shapiro

Posted on: Oct 03, 2022 at 3:33 AM

Posted on: Oct 03, 2020 at 3:33 AM

Posted on: Oct 03, 2019 at 3:34 AM

Posted on: Oct 03, 2018 at 3:33 AM

Posted on: Oct 03, 2017 at 3:33 AM

Posted on: Oct 03, 2015 at 3:33 AM

Posted on: Sep 06, 2015 at 8:53 PM

Though I won't be able to attend the Mother of All Reunions - '65, I have been very touched by the comments to me and of all my classmates, some of whom I knew and some of whom I never had the privilege of knowing at all. We certainly had a diversified class. From what I've been reading, almost every one of us grew with good values, a positive spin on life, and inquisitive minds. Buried memories are surfacing with every post as if I were waking from a dream. Every name is a key that unlocks a thousand memories. I admit to being a wannabe in high school. I was struggling for approbation, acceptance, and confidence. Fortunately, I found my closest friends not by my own endeavor, but by the natural ebb and tide of meeting kindred souls. I am indebted and grateful for their friendships. Without seeing one of these friends for decades, I could easily call upon them for any kind of help that I needed today. You know who you are. Most are still here; some have departed. My high school years are the gift that has kept on giving. How's that for a high school legacy? All the letters in sports, positions in student offices, or accolades in drama couldn't follow me out of high school into my life - only those few invaluable friendships endured. I am sure grateful for that. Yet, I am sanguine in my appreciation because if I had been a more thoughtful and sensitive man, I would have many necklaces of close friends lingering on throughout my life. As I read your entries, I am realizing how special each and every one of you really were/are. I missed it. Perhaps if I could do it again, I would see you all differently in those awkward years of adolescence; i wish that I could have seen the beauty that you all carried and carry inside of you. Please forgive me for that. I am most fortunate to at least realize it now. I was surrounded by beautiful people, and I know that some of that virtue has shaped my life and those around me. The world appears to be increasingly in turmoil. I cringe when I hear how high school students sometimes are exposed to horrible, almost unmentionable events. Though we "ducked and covered," and were shocked by Kennedy's assassination, a dangerous and violent world seemed very far away somehow. We rode buses and the "L" without a care in the world. Our concerns were mostly grades, girlfriends, and gridirons. We had the best of America - our parents who survived WWII and jump-started our generation with as much advantage as they could afford and bestow. As I wrote in Stu Moring's yearbook, "The time is ripe; the fruit is everlasting." He said it was very profound, but, I admit to not knowing exactly what it meant at the time. I will venture a guess that it refers to picking the fruit a little before it is ready because it will provide delicious life-long nourishment in due course of time. Friendships in high school have become very ripe, indeed. So when you are all together at the reunion, relish the fruit and take some new varieties home with you. There are more friends to make from that ETHS Class of '65.