Reunion - Continued

REUNION - Continued.
We met at 11:30 on Saturday morning, September 29th, at the Station Restaurant in Berea. This building has a lot of history, as it formerly was the New York Central depot. My Dad commuted from here into his office, in the Cleveland Terminal building, for seven years. For the last three of these years, whenever I needed our car (most families were lucky - during The Great Depression to have one car - many had none.), I would drive my Dad down to the depot to catch the 7 A.M. “Plug” heading into Cleveland. Then, I would pick him up at 6P.M. Back in those days, there were many commuters. Today, Amtrak doesn’t even stop here.
There were 17 of us for lunch - 7 from our Class of 1936; 2 from the Class of ‘35 and 5 from the Class of ‘37. and three guests.
I sat across from Rose Petersson. a very charming and entertaining lady of 89 - the mother of seven! Rose is tiny - probably 5 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds. Gordon picked her up, and she rode to the Reunion with us. She lives in an apartment complex in downtown Berea, where Gordon also used to live. When they took our "drink" orders before we ate, she said "I think I will get a shot with a beer chaser!" But, she ended up ordering ice tea - big in the midwest. Then, for lunch, she ordered a sirloin steak - also big in the midwest.

My lunch was great! The waitress said that their specialty was quiche, and that the chef had made a seafood quiche especially for us , as it is not on the menu. So, I ordered that. It was the best quiche that I’ve ever had.
We had a leisurely lunch, and then re-convened at the Mahler Museum for a social get-together and cake.
It was great seeing everyone - especially realizing that this will probably be my last chance to join the others, for our Reunions.
On Sunday, Kathleen and Grady Dorsey picked me up and I accompanied them to St,. Mary’s church for their noon Mass. I was standing in the outer foyer of the hotel, waiting for my ride to church. Suddenly, I had a "flashback" to 35 years ago - when Virginia and Pete Parin would pick uop Mom, and give her a ride to and from St. John's church in Ypsilanti. She always stood by her front door waiting for them, so she wouldn't keep them waiting. Here I am, so many years later, following in her footsteps! I was a former member of the parish, when old St. Mary’s was located in downtown Berea, during the ‘30’s. After church, they drove me al around Berea so I could see old sights and new changes. It was very interesting to me to view all of this - including the house where I used to live, as well as the house where Kathleen (a native Berean) lived when she was growing up. After church, We spent the afternoon looking at pictures from their Alaska trip from which they had recently returned. At 5:00 we met Dorsey’s oldest daughter Maureen, husband Greg, and Michael and Megan for supper. The Dorseys treated us all at the Station restaurant. I could visit there every day and not get tired of it. Naturally, the “station” is close to two pairs of mainland tracks. Trains are going by about every 5 or 6 minutes - mostly freight trains - a lot of atmosphere! Nearby, every time a train would go by, I noticed a young boy popping up in his booth and waving at the train. I noticed that the freight trains no longer carry cabooses! Communication and control, today, are all electronic. A bit of mid-west humor! The waiter gave the bill-tray to Greg, and he, matter of factly, passed it on to Grady with the comment; “You can thank me, for I could very easily have intercepted it!”
The Dorseys dropped me of at the Hampton Inn, after a long but very interesting day.