I can’t speak for all of my former teaching colleagues, but I genuinely enjoy the Ignatius reunions. Near the middle of October, October 19th to be exact, the classes of ’68, ’73, ’78 and ’83 had their respective reunions, and it was great revisiting the experiences of their years at Ignatius
The class of ’73 had a huge gathering, which included many of the men who I had coached on the sophomore basketball team. I actually coached young men and, eventually, women in all 4 of those classes, but not always in basketball. It’s great seeing my former athletes, because there is a unique bond between players and coaches of athletic teams.
We don’t cling to those days out of a sense of desperation, but there is something invigorating about reliving the shared emotions and energy of athletic contests. The unexpected wins, and even losses, are seen through the prism of both time and more- important issues in life, and can be recounted joyfully.
It isn’t only former athletes that I enjoy seeing at reunions. I’m interested in hearing how and what all of my former students are doing. They tell me about their families, adventures and professional lives, and they seem to take a morbid pleasure in reminding me of things that I said that cause me to wonder how I kept my job all of those years. It’s all great fun
With apologies to the members of the class of ’68, I failed to make it to their site that evening. My age and the distance that I have to drive home impacted that omission. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to visit with them at their 50th reunion in 5 years. It should be added that Bob Gabric was disappointed that he couldn’t make it, but he now lives in Tucson, AZ.
Speaking of alumni, I had to laugh a couple of weeks ago when I was watching television…on a Tuesday evening, I believe. In the first program, Andre Baugher, Ignatius class of ’80, was appearing as a police captain on the sitcom Brooklyn 99. That was followed immediately by NCIS Los Angeles in which Vito Ruginis from the class of ’74 appeared in a reoccurring role as a Russian “businessman” (wink, wink!). It’s fun and somewhat exciting to see former students suddenly show up on the screen.
Finally, when I was visiting the class of ’73, I ran into Bernie Reusz who is a dentist in the Downers Grove area. My wife and I had gone to Bernie before we moved away. That, in turn, reminded me that, when we went to Ireland this past summer, John O’Riordan, class of ’84, acted as our travel agent. In fact, John, at World Class Travels, has done a wonderful job of organizing several different trips for us always to our satisfaction. (With a name like O’Riordan, it’s probably no surprise that he’s particularly skilled at organizing Ireland trips.)
When I started this “gig” of writing a blog for the school, I thought that it might be nice to give a shout out to Ignatius alumni who are self-employed or work for small companies. I was told at that time that this is already done, but, with my limited computer skills, I’ve never found that site.
You’d think that, with a son who makes his living in I.T., I’d be able to find it. Oh, well.
