1984

We're the graduates of Kellogg
Class of 1984,
We once compared starting salaries
But that doesn't matter anymore.

Although 25 years
Have since gone by,
The camaraderie we felt
Made our Reunion moments fly.

We've triumphed brilliantly
And hit bumps in the road too,
I couldn't be a bit more proud
Of how we have persevered through.

Candy wrote a book of advice
After she survived a fire,
So others can avoid her errors
With consequences not quite so dire.

Lynette battled a brain tumor
Facing it with determination strong,
Then went to work for the church community
That had helped her family along.

Many of our classmates
Lived through a similar situation,
For all of you my heart is filled
With so much admiration.

There are those of us who've made it
Through layoffs and divorce,
And after the sadness and the pain
We didn't stray from our course.

In the current economic times
With some businesses running slow,
We're taking time to re-evaluate
Looking for opportunities to grow.

Philippe and Ian are weighing options
Stan's taking time to volunteer,
Dave wrote a training program
It's breakthrough from what I hear.

Luc purchased a new business
Brian started a new way,
To look at important world events
Everyone will use it one day.

We are now more than our careers
Bruce is especially proud,
Of his work with the Denver Public Schools
"We will keep improving," he vowed.

Our kids are facing college,
Or kindergarten for Scott, Dave, Jim and Steve,
Pete's going camping with Indian Princesses
And looking forward to it, I believe.

We're indulging our creativity
Claire's writing fiction and screenplays,
Karl's drawing cartoons of the financial mess
Jimmy's music fills out his days.

I heard and felt such gratitude
To KGSM as it was formerly named,
It gave us much more than academics
Our lives by this were framed.

At Reunion as we laughed, joked and danced
We felt we reconnected,
But underneath was something else
Something less expected.

We found that special piece of ourselves
Children and spouses do not see,
And remembered it's still part of us
And it will always be.

These are the people mentioned in the poem: Candace (Husbus-Fong) Quinn, Lynette Barnes Hinch, Philippe Laratte, Ian Howe, Stan Cook, Dave Ryan, Luc Clarys, Brian Hand, Bruce Hoyt, Scott Nicholas, Dave Chen, Jim Mitchell, Steve Keller, Pete Fawcett, Claire Schwartz Farber, Karl Olaf Mills and Jimmy Margolis.