| Writings: Reminiscences, Reflections, etc by U. City Classmates |
To my dear U City friends,
Oftentimes, when people speak to us, we listen with a filter. The way in which we listen does not let in the true
intention or meaning of what is being said. Especially when another person tells us “Thank you”, we have a
tendency to downplay the message. We think, “it was nothing”, “I didn't do much”, “other people worked harder
than me”, blah blah blah. We diminish the message, we be modest, we be humble, and many times we
rationalize by saying we did it for our own selfish reasons, not for others.
I want you to hear what I am about to say, really hear it deeply. Open your heart, quiet your mind, and then
listen very carefully. Create a sense of acknowledgment for yourself, create a real depth of the contribution you
have made to others. Each of you!
Here goes:
Thank you for the incredible contribution you have made to the lives of hundreds of friends this past weekend.
The evidence speaks for itself. For starters, the fact that over 200 people from our graduating class made the
trek to St Louis from near and far, from Brazil, from Israel, from the east coast, the west coast, the north, and
the south, and everywhere in between, that level of turnout is remarkable. That laid the foundation. Then
came the event itself, 2 days of activities. After visiting for 4 hours the first night, that was not enough for the
many who continued their conversations until after 1am at the local bar (1am is when I fizzled, some of you
stayed longer). WOW. Then we got together for a 2nd night of fun, and catching up, and visiting, and
renewing old friendships and making new ones. Some people relived their childhood experience of slumber
parties. The entire 2 day event was magical. As I said, the evidence speaks for itself. You were there and
you know what I am talking about.
Thank you all, all of you on this committee who made this possible. Thank you deeply. I witnessed a lot of
smiling, laughing, hugging, reminiscing, dancing, and discussions that took us all back to our roots. I know that
you saw what I saw. I think it is important to let in the acknowledgement that you made a huge difference in the
lives of so many people. I had a great time. Everyone around me had a great time. The most magical aspect
of our evening is the reminder that even though we all go about living our daily adult lives focused on our
families and our careers, we can come together in 10 year intervals and still be the best of friends. The
reminder that we really have a long lasting strong bond of lifelong friendship. We all have a deep connection.
We all are very blessed to have the U City experience as teenagers that prepared us for life and we are
blessed to have people like you back at home willing to take the time and energy to plan and execute such a
wonderful event for the benefit of others.
I do have one regret. I regret that I did not get to know each and every one of you better during our years at
high school. Of course, we were teenagers and we all buddied up with our small group of friends. You all hold
a very special place in my heart. You all did a great job. I have great memories of each and every one of you,
even those of you who I did not spend a lot of time with, I know who you are and you are great. Thank you very
much.
I don’t mean to me too mushy, I am just a young at heart older guy expressing my gratitude for what you have
done. Thanks. I hope we can do it again.
Sincerely,
Steven Seigal
U City ‘68
ps (Deena, I hope you had a great half marathon in the rain, I was thinking of you Sunday morning wishing I
could be there too)
Oftentimes, when people speak to us, we listen with a filter. The way in which we listen does not let in the true
intention or meaning of what is being said. Especially when another person tells us “Thank you”, we have a
tendency to downplay the message. We think, “it was nothing”, “I didn't do much”, “other people worked harder
than me”, blah blah blah. We diminish the message, we be modest, we be humble, and many times we
rationalize by saying we did it for our own selfish reasons, not for others.
I want you to hear what I am about to say, really hear it deeply. Open your heart, quiet your mind, and then
listen very carefully. Create a sense of acknowledgment for yourself, create a real depth of the contribution you
have made to others. Each of you!
Here goes:
Thank you for the incredible contribution you have made to the lives of hundreds of friends this past weekend.
The evidence speaks for itself. For starters, the fact that over 200 people from our graduating class made the
trek to St Louis from near and far, from Brazil, from Israel, from the east coast, the west coast, the north, and
the south, and everywhere in between, that level of turnout is remarkable. That laid the foundation. Then
came the event itself, 2 days of activities. After visiting for 4 hours the first night, that was not enough for the
many who continued their conversations until after 1am at the local bar (1am is when I fizzled, some of you
stayed longer). WOW. Then we got together for a 2nd night of fun, and catching up, and visiting, and
renewing old friendships and making new ones. Some people relived their childhood experience of slumber
parties. The entire 2 day event was magical. As I said, the evidence speaks for itself. You were there and
you know what I am talking about.
Thank you all, all of you on this committee who made this possible. Thank you deeply. I witnessed a lot of
smiling, laughing, hugging, reminiscing, dancing, and discussions that took us all back to our roots. I know that
you saw what I saw. I think it is important to let in the acknowledgement that you made a huge difference in the
lives of so many people. I had a great time. Everyone around me had a great time. The most magical aspect
of our evening is the reminder that even though we all go about living our daily adult lives focused on our
families and our careers, we can come together in 10 year intervals and still be the best of friends. The
reminder that we really have a long lasting strong bond of lifelong friendship. We all have a deep connection.
We all are very blessed to have the U City experience as teenagers that prepared us for life and we are
blessed to have people like you back at home willing to take the time and energy to plan and execute such a
wonderful event for the benefit of others.
I do have one regret. I regret that I did not get to know each and every one of you better during our years at
high school. Of course, we were teenagers and we all buddied up with our small group of friends. You all hold
a very special place in my heart. You all did a great job. I have great memories of each and every one of you,
even those of you who I did not spend a lot of time with, I know who you are and you are great. Thank you very
much.
I don’t mean to me too mushy, I am just a young at heart older guy expressing my gratitude for what you have
done. Thanks. I hope we can do it again.
Sincerely,
Steven Seigal
U City ‘68
ps (Deena, I hope you had a great half marathon in the rain, I was thinking of you Sunday morning wishing I
could be there too)
Steven Seigal's post was beautiful, and right on point! I had a wonderful time both Friday and Saturday Nights,
and hope that everyone else did. I appreciated the opportunity to talk with each and every one of you and
catch up on what's happened these past 10, 20, 30, or 40 years. You are a great group of people, and I
consider myself very lucky to be a part of University City's Class of 1968.
And let's not forget the great work that the Reunion and Handbook Committe did putting together these past
four Reunions. They were willing to sacrifice a lot of time and hard work so that everyone could have two fun
filled nights.
Since the Reunion, I've already gotten E-mails from several of you. I'd be happy to hear from all of you.
Steve, your note to Deena about the marathon--- I'll have to second that one. As a person who has never run
anything more than a very slow 10K, I have a lot of admiriation for anyone who can run a half marathon, much
less a full marathon.
Wayne Rosenthal
and hope that everyone else did. I appreciated the opportunity to talk with each and every one of you and
catch up on what's happened these past 10, 20, 30, or 40 years. You are a great group of people, and I
consider myself very lucky to be a part of University City's Class of 1968.
And let's not forget the great work that the Reunion and Handbook Committe did putting together these past
four Reunions. They were willing to sacrifice a lot of time and hard work so that everyone could have two fun
filled nights.
Since the Reunion, I've already gotten E-mails from several of you. I'd be happy to hear from all of you.
Steve, your note to Deena about the marathon--- I'll have to second that one. As a person who has never run
anything more than a very slow 10K, I have a lot of admiriation for anyone who can run a half marathon, much
less a full marathon.
Wayne Rosenthal
Dear reunion goers: At our last three reunions, someone always mentions that people trek from as far away as
Israel and Brazil. Steve Siegel made the comment in his reflections about our recent reunion, posted on this
site. As the attendee from Brazil I just want to say that flying so far for such a special weekend is not all that
remarkable. I doubt I'm alone in feeling that the further away you live from your home town or homeland and the
longer you've been away (in my case, since the 1998 reunion), the greater the nostalgic need to return. That
need is rooted in the value all we put on our past, especially our "formative" years. Why else would we
reminisce so much at reunions? All those "do you remember how or when?" anecdotes. I want to thank
everyone I saw at the reunion, including the planning committee, for helping me remember how and when.
Mike Kepp
Israel and Brazil. Steve Siegel made the comment in his reflections about our recent reunion, posted on this
site. As the attendee from Brazil I just want to say that flying so far for such a special weekend is not all that
remarkable. I doubt I'm alone in feeling that the further away you live from your home town or homeland and the
longer you've been away (in my case, since the 1998 reunion), the greater the nostalgic need to return. That
need is rooted in the value all we put on our past, especially our "formative" years. Why else would we
reminisce so much at reunions? All those "do you remember how or when?" anecdotes. I want to thank
everyone I saw at the reunion, including the planning committee, for helping me remember how and when.
Mike Kepp