Especially of late, the news is constantly full of stories that are frustrating, scary, and awful. To stay sane, one must look for happy events and invest hope in them. This may seem like hyperbole, but too often, it seems true these days.

I wanted to commemorate the 40th anniversary of my high school graduation. It seemed like an enjoyable and hopeful thing to do. No one else had organized anything, so a few months ago, I began casually to ask some of my former classmates, with whom I'm in touch on social media, to see if they were interested in having a reunion event.

No commercial company approached us, nor did the alumni association; former Girl Scout that I am, I figured I'd do something. I made a questionnaire and circulated it. I asked people what they would want to do, when, and so on. Then I found out from a current student at our alma mater that the weekend of May 13 and 14, the school was staging its annual spring musical. It seemed like a worthwhile event to join. It would be the weekend after Mother's Day and the weekend before my older daughter's college graduation ceremony.

I contacted a few dozen former classmates, and it was a lot of effort to get people interested. I cannot help but think that the Pandemic has unmoored a lot of people, including my fellow alums. But finally, I got some of my old classmates interested, and some of us got together for dinner, and then a few of us went onward to our old school and saw the musical.

Seven of us met at a beloved Brooklyn restaurant, L & B Spumoni Gardens. It's a popular Italian eatery known for its square pizza and ices! Unfortunately, it was raining lightly, and I sat under the wide umbrella of an outdoor table, awaiting my former classmates.

First came Tian. He and I had also gone to the same junior high school (Andries Hudde 240K). We talked about work, about concerts we'd gone to see (we both like the metal band Ghost). Then Grace arrived. She and I are both educators, and we'd had lunch last summer. Shortly after that, Luis appeared; he and I had been bandmates in the Senior SING show (varsity show), and on social media, we chat about music a lot too. Then Eunice came by; she and I had been pals from tenth grade on but hadn't seen each other since the late 1980s! Then we saw Richard, who was searching for us, and we had to shout out to him. He'd traveled in from Idaho! Lastly, we waved to Cheryl, and then we all went to the front desk to get our table.

We were a bit soggy, but everyone had a really nice time. Good food, good conversation, and memories shared. Everyone reminisced while thumbing through my copy of the yearbook. We were a diverse group, reflective of our diverse NYC public school, Edward R. Murrow.