Speaking From the Heart--Roy's Words

Jan Crockett Smith, Sue Seamon Mead and
 Marsha Payton Rickel

Three years of planning and hard work by the hands and heads of many classmates have finally come to fruition. I, too, have spent time helping and reflecting on what those years meant in our lives. Even though my stories are universal, they are still told from my point of view.  In our class there are at least two hundred points of view, when looking back at those twelve adventurous years of school. Perhaps another set of eyes can tell the story, that I couldn't.  

One classmate, Roy Underwood,  recently reflected on

Richard, Karen, Donna, Bill, Roy

those memories, those emotions brought on by the meetings that have been held to organize and shore up our reunion.  Here are Roy's words spoken from his heart.

Greetings 1965 MHS classmates.
We are a few days away from our 50th reunion, can you really believe it? I am speaking only for myself at this writing, not the committee. Nor am I the wordsmith like some of my classmates. I have been known and accused of being brutally honest, called many names, most not so kind, and probably deserved such. However, as we near our 50th reunion, I wish to share my thoughts. Agree or disagree, it matters not to me. This is my story of how it began.

Tony Palmer, ? Roy Underwood

It has been one hell of a ride, sometimes smooth, sometimes rough--disagreements, untold hours of personal time, and difficult decisions had to be made along the road to now.

It began more than five years ago with two people, then three.  I was living in Ohio at the time. I personally missed two previous reunions due to distance and my employment. I moved back to Oklahoma City after my retirement in 2009. The seeds of our current reunion began with Richard Spencer and Karen Atkinson Yoxall.  I was invited to assist. Richard and I began having lunch meetings in Shawnee, Okla. We had not seen each other since 1965, but we hugged and for me, the years melted away.

Randy Loehr, Linda McNatt Henbest, Donna Collins Edmondson, Jan Crockett Smith 

Meetings were planned, the very first was held in Miami @ the Pizza Hut, with more than 48 classmates attending. We

thought, wow, this is going to be easy, not so! As the weeks and months progressed, we learned it was not going to be so easy. I cannot count how many meetings we have had. You were informed and invited. The attendance, over the years has fluctuated. Many have asked, who is paying for these meetings, the food and drinks etc. The total cost of travel, food etc., came from our pockets, some locations were donated. Weekly breakfast meetings were begun here in Miami at local restaurants. All in all they have been very successful. Classmates traveled to join us from different locations in state and out of state.

Jackie Trask

It has been a time to renew friendships and establish new ones; a time of sharing our life's success, failures and loss. No more petty BS of our years at MHS, no more clicks or ill feelings. Just people, we shared a point in time of our personal history. For me, I deeply cherish each and every moment you have chosen to share with me. I would come from those meetings, feeling energized, happy and at times guilty for having absorbed such wonderful emotions from my classmates!

Wednesday morning meetings class of 65. 

Many have worked years, weeks, months and hours to make this the best reunion ever. You may not like portions of it or any of it. For me, I don't care for some events, but you know, it will be what I make of it, I choose to make it all a positive event. Like many, our lives have taken many roads, some very successful, some not. We have all known happiness, horrible pain and loss, some of our own making. People have hurt us, in turn we have hurt others, and usually those we loved the most. Many of our classmates have suffered such loss, and they will be in attendance. I want them to feel welcome; rich, poor, successful or not. If I act superior, judge them, or not interact with them, I am the one who will experience a personal loss for not allowing them in, it will make me less and cheat me out of allowing them to enrich my life. My thoughts are mine alone. A heart felt THANK YOU, for your support, time and money to help make this one of the best reunions ever. A personal thank you classmates who have enriched my life over these past few years, by you being you!! Hope to see you in a few days. Blessings to all!

Top of Form

 

Miami High School,  Circa 1959, the Ted Watts collection

Wardogs 1965

A toast!  To Mrs. Thelma Martin, Mrs. Kathryn Jones, Mrs. Ruby Duncan, Mrs. Lorene Micka, Mrs. Peggy Johnson, Mr. Phil Garoutte, and ALL who taught us the skills, and laid the foundation for our lives beyond MHS.

  Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
    Old time is still a-flying
  And this same flower that smiles today
    Tomorrow will be dying. (Robert Herrick, To the Virgins
        to Make Much of Time)

Those high school years were like a poem, when Mrs. Martin insisted that we read between the lines, for a deeper meaning. It took years for those lines to sink in.....I still liked simplicity then, where a yes meant yes, but we studied diligently. 

    So live, that when thy summons comes to join
       The innumerable caravan, which moves
    To that mysterious realm... (W.C. Bryant, Thanatopsis)

We learned, through the pages of  great novels, through poetry that took us to the depths of understanding,  and through our own personal experiences about sarcasm, irony, love, rejection, betrayal, beauty, shades of death, innuendos, and double entendres. We laughed; we cried; we dreamed; we envied; we made choices.

Letty's charm bracelet from MHS.

Madcaps design by Mary Dahl

In high school we went from being "Me" the center of the universe to "One of Many" at the center of a wheel with options and paths leading us around the world. What fun it was to suddenly meet new people in our classes who shared the same interest.  We grew as we explored our blocks of learning through Math club, journalism, chorus, band, sports, cheer leading, Miamiettes, journalism, FHA, FFA, business clubs,  speech, drama, stage productions and the world beyond the bound book.  

In the halls we found love, stole kisses, held hands, played games, and hid secrets in our lockers.  The transition from 9th to 12th was clearly visible, as our lockers graduated each year from the Jr. Hi hallways to the old Pershing grade school hallways when we were Sophomores, to the second story as Juniors (near the science rooms where there was always something curious going on), and finally to the center of the building and bottom floor.  We were truly Seniors when our lockers where in the main part of the building.  

To rephrase the wise words from our 1965 Miamiam:
     School is attending classes, trying to understand..., concentrating on new skills.
     It is knowing study is necessary, and drilling is necessary for perfection.
     School is learning to develop ideas, to accept responsibility, and to serve others.
     It is having confidence in one's abilities, poise when with others, and pride in one's achievements. 
     School is learning by building a house and by installing the wiring.
     It is pretty girl watching and why not?
     And before Homecoming, school is cheerleading spirited students on stage and on the field, 
getting excited and tense and trying
harder to win.
     It is going to the first sock hop of the year, dancing, and homecoming. 
     School is working hard, winning trophies, and having fun. 
     School is living now, remembering the past, and exploring the future.
     But most of all school is learning to solve practical problems of life, to plan for the future, and to cooperate with others. 

  
We are coming home, the Wardogs Class of 1965.  We each learned from our teachers and community how to be productive people in an ever changing world.  Now, we will once again drag Main street, climb the chat piles, kiss on the back rows of the Coleman, search for the spook light, dance the night away in bobby socks, or merely reflect on those memories.

I, for one, am looking forward to listening to the stories we've lived and built upon for these fifty years since high school.  We are men and women, many of  whom became mothers and  fathers or served our country in the military.  We found careers as musicians, builders, scientists, entrepreneurs, aviators, bankers, educators, artists, ministers, mathematicians, attorneys, doctors in many fields, salesmen and women, organizers, athletes,  PTA presidents, librarians, nurses, journalist, laborers, adventurers, world travelers. 
Each of us proud Wardogs who are still making the world a better place to live. 

Salute, Miami High School Wardogs, Class of 1965.  May you live long and prosper.