John Wellington's Blog: Quest for the Blue Tuxedo

My daughter recently attended her high school prom. She looked beautiful in her blue dress and her date wore a white tux and tails. Kelsey had been anxious because Dave's outfit was a surprise and so she was nervous as to what he might be wearing. I told her that it couldn't be worse than what I wore to my prom -- a powder blue, polyester tuxedo including a ruffled shirt. Of course she laughed and asked to see a picture, but unfortunately, I didn't have one.

At the same time as all this prom business was going on, I received an invitation to my 30th high school reunion in Lewisburg, PA. I only went to LAHS for my junior and senior years of high school and my family moved back to the metro NY area shortly after I graduated. I had a great time there in my 2 years, but since my family no longer lived in the area, I've never been back -- not ever in 30 years. I stayed in touch with only one person from LAHS, Mary (McKeegan) Norman and she called me to ask if I was going to attend. We got to talking about our prom and how much fun it had been and about my blue tuxedo. Mary did not have any pictures of me in the tux, but she was in touch with my prom date, Heidi Wulcyzn and would ask her for one. Within a few days, Heidi had written back to Mary with the following:

John did not wear a blue tuxedo to the prom, it would have clashed with my dress and his hair. He wore an off-white tux and I will bring a picture to the reunion to prove it."

This stumped me for a while as I know I wore a blue tuxedo to a prom, and then it hit me: the junior prom. My date to the junior prom was Kimberly Kirkland and I was able to find her on Facebook. I sent Kim a note explaining my situation and asked her if she had any pictures of me in the blue tuxedo. After a few anxious days of waiting for a reply, I got the following:

Hey John:

I can confirm for your daughter that you wore a blue tux, but unfortunately, I did not record that fashion faux pas for posterity.

Kimberly

So the quest had come to an end, but all the activity got me excited to go to the reunion and a picture of me in a white tux would have to satisfy Kelsey's curiousity. I arrived in Lewisburg around noon and met the Norman's (Mary and her husband Chuck and their two children Irene and Chas) at the children's park in town. Mary's parents were there as well and it was great to see them after so many years. We had lunch together at our favorite high school hangout, La Casa de Pizza -- Za's for short. The food at Za's tasted EXACTLY the same as it had all those years ago!

After lunch and Mr. & Mrs. McKeegan's departure, we walked around town. Lewisburg was as quaint as ever, but somehow seemed much smaller than I'd remembered. Many of the shops were the same, but a few were new. After an hour or so, the Norman's retired to the hotel and I decided to walk down South 3rd Street to see my old house. It looked about the same, yet again, smaller than I'd remembered. I didn't have the courage to knock on the door and try to get a look inside.

Next it was back to the hotel for some serious studying of Mary's yearbook (I couldn't find mine) to try and remember my former classmates. Heidi Wulcyzn arrived a few hours later and presented me with the following:

Spring of 1979 - What were we thinking?!?

The three of us left for the prom leaving Chuck in charge of 3 kids -- his two and Heidi's son -- thanks Chuck! We were all a little concerned how everyone would look and if we'd recognize anyone, but all that was quickly put to rest. We had a FANTASTIC time! Most people looked remarkably similar to their high school pictures and it was easy to tell who they were. Years of no contact melted away in minutes and soon we were all enjoying each other's company and getting caught up on each other's lives. As I am telling the group my story about the quest for the blue tuxedo photo, another friend, Lori (Sholley) Bechtel says to me: "John, I only brought two pictures from high school with me tonight and you're not going to believe this one. I have no idea why I picked it." And there it was -- a picture of my best friend junior year, Bud Schuster, his date Lori Sholley and Kimberly Kirkland and me:

The trip had all been worth it. I was able to visit Lewisburg after 30 years, re-connect with long lost friends, and share with my family a period in my life that had for them been a mystery. We've all had great laughs over the pictures from my high school days and my kids find it amazing that I was once their age. I've never been much for reunions and I don't think they mean much if they are less than 20 years, but I do recommend everyone attend all reunions that are 25 years or greater. Life is about friendship and relationships and I've been blessed with many good ones -- sometimes you just need to be reminded.