Hangin' With the Cool Kids

I graduated from Heidelberg American High School, in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1978.  When American kids graduate in a foreign country, it's a bit difficult to hold onto relationships or have reunions at the old school like stateside folks can.  We didn't really have a class alumni association, the Internet didn't exist until relatively recently, and keeping track of everyone was all but impossible.  With Internet search engines, sites like Classmates.com, and now Facebook, it has been possible to gather fellow Heidelberg graduates together from time to time.

Last night was one of those times.

A dozen or so of us gathered at the Zum Rheingarten restaurant about a half hour north of me, and we had a blast!!

There was plenty of beer, as you would expect of people who spent their high school years in a country where the legal drinking age was 16.  This was my glass ... I had to take a picture of it because I liked the way the sunlight lit the glass.  Then I drank it.

The restaurant used a dry-erase marker on a china plate to indicate our reserved table.  What a cool idea!

This is me, my friend Mike, and my sister in law.  It had already been a long, hot day, and I can see it all over my face.  I was SO ready for the rest of that beer, and a good German meal.

Another artsy shot, with a beer bottle and Mike's souvenir Heidelberg license plate.

The group photo, taken by our lovely server, as we closed down the restaurant.  (The guy in the red shirt next to me is my bratty little brother.)

Any time a group of Heidelbergers gets together, a party is sure to erupt.  It doesn't matter which class we were in, how young or old we are, or if we ever knew each other in school.  Once a Heidelberger, always a Heidelberger ... the bond is strong. 

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)