Funny, but how often do you actually think about your high school yearbook? I graduated in 1979, and other than the first few years, my yearbook pretty much sat in a bin on the fireplace with my husband’s yearbook and a few other books. Every once in a while, we’d pull them out and look at pictures of old friends and ourselves, but eventually, they just sat there.
Then October 2012 rolled around, and Hurricane Sandy hit.
We live on the Mullica River in Southern NJ, and coincidentally, we were going to be out of town on business that weekend. Before we left, though, all the warnings had us pretty stressed, especially my husband. Our house is two stories, but there really wasn’t much we could do to save anything before we left. The one thing we did manage to grab was a huge basket of photo albums, which we put on the dining room table.
Thank goodness we did.
Other than that basket of photos, we lost everything on the first floor. The water came up the river, bringing salt water with it, and we ended up with 12–16 inches of water in our home. Everything was ruined. Even though the second floor was intact, the entire first floor, including the floors and crawl space, had to be torn apart. We came home to an absolute mess and ended up living in a rental for almost four months.
It was one of the most devastating experiences of my life, and those who know me know I’ve been through quite a bit.
Among all the things we lost were our yearbooks, along with papers, files, furniture, and so many other things you can imagine. We also lost our son’s school artwork and projects that we had saved over the years. We had to make some tough decisions, throw things away, and try to move on.
Fast forward all these years, and for some reason, I started thinking about my high school yearbook. I wondered how many of those kids were still around, other than the ones I’ve kept in touch with on social media.
So I reached out to a dear friend, Mauricio, in Florida, and asked if one of my closest high school friends, Bob Magnum, who passed away many, many years ago, had ever given him his yearbook. Maurico and Bob had been a couple since Bob and I had met. We were like three peas in a pod for years and years until I met my husband. Then our friendship blossomed spending time together with them and enjoying each other’s company.
And guess what? He still had it!
Not only did Mauricio dig through his old things to find it, but he was happy to share it with me. I was so excited when he told me he had it. Bob’s passing was tragic, and so many of us still miss him terribly. At first, I was surprised Mauricio would part with the book, but then I realized this was Bob’s past, not his, and he was giving me a piece of mine back.
A few days later, the book arrived, and I honestly can’t explain how much it meant to me. I never expected to feel this way about a yearbook!
Not only did I get my yearbook back, but it was Bob’s. One of the most special friends I had in high school. It was like getting a little piece of my past back, wrapped up in one book. All those pictures, all those memories, and all the personal notes his friends had written to him, including mine. And let me tell you, my note was more like a NOVEL! 😂
I’ve already gone through the book three times, reading the notes, rereading them, and looking at all the pictures of our friends. It’s brought back so many memories and left me feeling a little melancholy in so many ways, but also at peace.
We miss you, Bob, more than you know. I’m so grateful to have this little piece of you and all those memories back. Thank you for your friendship, your love, and for being such a special part of my life. I will treasure this book more than you’ll ever know.
And Mauricio, thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing this with me. You have no idea how much it means to have a little piece of my past back, especially one that connects me to someone I’ll never forget. ❤️