St Brendan’s ‘Class Of 1975’ 50 Year Reunion

They say you can’t go back, but whoever they are, they are wrong. Last night’s St. Brendan’s Class of 1975 50-Year Reunion proved to everyone in attendance that you surely can go back in time—and it can turn out to be one of the most wonderful experiences of one’s life. Most school reunions that you read about or attend are based on the high school experience. It’s not often that you hear about grammar school reunions. But this was not just about a grammar school reunion; our reunion, which celebrated eight years of attendance at St. Brendan’s School, was also a reunion celebrating what life was like growing up in a particular Bronx neighborhood. An experience so special that it is, at times, difficult to find the right words to justify that extraordinary shared bond. And more than anything else, a bond of friendship between people that just may be one of the strongest bonds any of us has ever experienced.

The reunion was filled with old friends, some of whom had moved away in sixth or seventh grades. Still, in the end, the majority of those in attendance had completed all eight years and then, of course, moved on to various high schools in the city while experiencing their teenage years and beyond in that same Bronx neighborhood. The teenage years would prove to fuel a completely different experience from the grammar school years—a point highlighted when a photo of the bar French Charley’s, shown in last night’s reunion video, received a round of thunderous applause.

Last night’s reunion was a truly wonderful personal experience, so I don’t really want to delve too deeply here, because I think it’s best experienced by anyone who was not there to watch the video below. The video really defines what this was—and is—all about, more than any words I can write here. So enjoy the video…

Thanks to everyone who attended. Last night was just so special, as it made a time and place that we all cherished come back to life once again—because we may not be able to live in the Bronx forever, but the Bronx will always live forever in us.