Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Where Are They Now?


As some of you know, I started off my working life as an RN. Then a wonderful opportunity saw me heading off in a very different career direction. However, at least a couple of times a month, I need to go back to my old training Hospital to attend to corporate business & I walk the same corridors I did as a 17 year old. My clients there often say that the Hospital & Millie are joined at the hip, & in many ways they are quite correct. I have a strong & enduring bond with both the building & the people in it. And sometimes, in the recesses of those long corridors, I see the fleeting shadow of a young girl who looks disarmingly like me. Uniform & starched pinafore swishing around her knees, her waist length fair hair tucked up under her white cap, noisy heels clicking furiously on the linoleum, always rushing, rushing.

Late last year I was at the Hospital seeing a client. As I was leaving his office, I heard someone say 'That's Millie, I'd know that voice anywhere!' & along the corridor toward me walked a familiar face. It was Annie, one of the girls I trained with all those years ago. Even after not seeing each other for 33 years, it was instant recognition & a fantastic moment. She was always such a delight & one of my all time favourites. Her beautiful smile used to light up any room she walked into & gosh, it still does.

After a few failed attempts, we finally managed to catch up for lunch a couple of weeks ago. We had the best time, trying to remember who was in our training group & if we still kept in touch with anyone. One of my dearest friends Robbie (3rd from left in 3rd row) was from my Group & is seen in the pic below giving me a helping hand just prior to my nuptials with MOTH. We are Godmother's to each other's children & are closer to each other than to our own sisters. Then Annie made a very big statement 'Millie, we should have a reunion, why don't you organize it!' I gulped & said 'Oh, I don't think so Annie, I hate being Carleen the Co-Ordinator on things like this, but I'm happy to be your Assistant.'

So that's it, we are on our way to getting our Group back together. We started our training in February 1973, so without labouring the point, most of the Group is now in their early-mid fifties, although I was the baby, having only just turned 17 a couple of weeks before commencement. And as I've never done anything like this before, I'd so appreciate any tips (other than the standard Friends Reunited, My Space etc.) you can pass on re tracking everyone down. We know we can't just rely on the old Bush Telegraph. Oh & if you must know that's me 6th from left in the front row in our Graduation photo. It's hard to believe that at 19 I was already wearing an engagement ring & was about to get married to That Other Husband!


10 comments:

  1. Good on you. I love reunions. They are weird but fun and you feel like bursting into tears all the time, just like suprise parties. I don't have any tips but I would have thought if you have full names Google will help you find them. MySpace I would have thought would not help at all given the age group (no offence). !! I had my 20 year school reunion a bit back and out of 100 girls there were three who had literally vanished off the face of the earth. Noone could find them. And there will be some like that in your group too. Also sadly probably a couple may have died. Sorry, that was a bit morose. I'd better quit while ahead xoxox

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  2. Millie~ You are such a gorgeous bride. I have worked on class reunions before. All I can say is-try your best to locate as many as possible. Try to make it as accessible to as many as possible. Hold off on carbs and wine for two weeks prior to the wonderful event, have a trim and color at least one week before. Buy a new outfit in a color that is utterly becoming... and have a ball!

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  3. What a great story!! glad that you share it!
    Take care, dear Millie
    Rosa

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  4. It is a lot of hard work tracking everyone down but worth it when you do manage it and you have lots of fun catching up.
    I found just searching their names through Google unearthed a lot of my class mates - articles in local papers, school newsletters, sports club meetings etc are all published on the net, so their names popped up that way.
    Good luck!

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  5. Beautiful bride Millie. I was married to my other, other husband at 19 also. Did I think I knew it all! Bah! I have never been to a reunion. I've always lived too far away sadly.

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  6. My sister, who is even older than us, Mills, did a school reunion. It is a bit of work but well worth it.
    Didn't you look beautiful on your wedding day ?....not much different from the first photo, sixth from the left !!!!.....little bit of crawling there !!!! No, really you looked gorgeous. Could we have more MOTH and Millie wedding photos ?
    I'd show you mine but it was in 1976 and you might die, laughing !!!! XXXX

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  7. If anyone can track all those people down I am sure you can...certainly will be a great challenge and I look forward to some of the stories along the way! Ax

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  8. Good luck with your reunion Miss Millie! I've never done one before, but I hope you find all of your classmates.
    Your are adorable in these photos!
    j.

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  9. Hi Millie,

    This is a lovely story and I enjoyed seeing your photos.
    You were a beautiful bride.
    Much luck with your reunion ~ that will be fun.
    Friends of mine are organizing a Class of 79, the last year of Primary school. I still keep in touch with some of my friends.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  10. i clicked on the photo, enlarging it. who's that pretty girl in the first row?? i bet that's millie. and it is!

    no advice on reunions. never made it to one and never planned one. but i'm sure you'll do fine. pam

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And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart.
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
~W.H. Auden

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