June 12, 1971

I remember all the anxiety of getting permission to go to Grad. My father was not happy about me being out all night on the paddleboat but finally he gave in. Then there was the whole issue of the Grad dress. My mother still had her gorgeous figure and she had just bought a really nice white pant suit and thought it would be a great idea if I wore that to Grad. What was the point of buying a dress I would never wear again when there was something perfect already in the closet. “Because it’s not a dress Mom.” That battle I did not win so I bowed in ungracefully. Lucky for me Barb Seier decided to wear a pantsuit also so I was not the only freak there. I was grateful that during the dinner we slipped out as the guys wanted a drink so I missed the whole parade thing which was just as well as I would have been humiliated to be strutting around all those beautiful gowns in my pantsuit. The things we stress out about! I was also upset about my hair. I had curled it but it was so humid that evening that the curls went out and I just had this long mass of stuff around my head. It was neither straight nor curly. It was something in-between. But I had cool shoes and a perfect beaded shoulder bag in white (I still have it) so some things were ok. And I had a date.

To be perfectly honest I had a so-so time at Grad. I felt awkward because I was not sitting at the same table with my 2 best friends Silvia and Ranee. I was with Yvette, Marj and Barb because all 4 of us had St Anne guys as our dates and they wanted to stick together. The guys were grumpy because there was no booze and when we got on the paddleboat they wouldn’t dance with us. I got mad at George, Yvette got mad at Lucien. Barb at least was having fun with Gilles and Marj was happy to be with Jean-Paul. But George too tired to dance and he also didn’t want to go over to visit Silvia so it was a real mess for me. I was glad when I finally got home at 4 in the morning.
So that was Grad. For me.

We all know the rest of the story. Dark days the final 2 weeks of high school. I can still remember the utter silence in the halls the Monday after Grad. I hadn’t yet heard the story but still I felt something was wrong. Ann and Chris were relieved to see me because they thought it was me. I was stunned by the news. We all were. And that’s about all I want to say about that.

Let’s just say that I’ve made up my disappoint with Grad in all the Reunions. I’ve learned that you have to make your own fun and not count on your date!

P.S. Just looking in my diary entry for June 13th

"The graduation was very beautiful. I'm just so sorry George was so tired. He only had 4 hours sleep on Friday."

I guess I did have a good enough time. :)