My Lovely Time to Go Back in Time

I have returned home, but my mind still almost sings with details from our recent Chapman Class of ’63 reunion, which could not have gone better. I was swept back into the young person I once was, with nothing looming but the exciting future. And so I was happily walking the campus grounds again, visiting with friendly classmates on my way to interesting activities.

Of course, the play was a big thing for me, and it turned out to be all I had hoped and dreamed it could be, making all the writing worth the time spent. It was my enormous joy to see the actors, and the audience, enjoy the reading. I teared up when Dave (Hardacre) started reading the lines he acted so well when we were young. Even he wiped a tear, but when I noticed, he declared, “Oh no, I was only acting!” Well, just knowing it reached a place in our hearts long silent made my day! Sitting beside my mates reciting Shakespeare and forgetting our wrinkles and worries created a high point not only during the reunion, but perhaps in my life.

All the collegiate ceremonies gave me pause and reminded me of who I was. It was a lovely time. It was my lovely time to go back in time. It was timeless. It was real. And it was nice. And it was mine … to have … for a little while.

Photo:
After half a century, the play’s still the thing for these dedicated thespians. The 50-year reunion of the Chapman Class of 1963 this summer included a staged reading of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which the cast first performed in April 1961 in the Chapman Auditorium. For the reunion, Sandy (West) Earl did some rewrites, adding a Chapman spin to Shakespeare’s classic. Joining in the fun with Earl, far right, were Katherine (Messer) Eastman, Dennis Short, Sharon (Otteson) Maher, David Hardacre, Margaret (Harvey) Ferguson, Loraine (Cheverton) Lacey, Stephanie (Shaw) Clambaneva and Bill Cumiford.