Remembering school, we will smile again: Forgotten swing, first love. Anxious silences during the test, And the smell of sweet buns coming from the cafeteria;
***
Now we have matured, knowing our worries: Family and children, fatigue after work. But again, here we are together today, Like in distant childhood, we laugh from the heart.
***
This is the day, this is the meeting, I rejoice at you all, friends, For you, graduates, I’m drinking to the dregs now!
***
I wish you to gather more often, I wish you all health, I wish you no longer get lost, prosperity for everyone and goodness for everyone!
***
I wish you all good luck, happiness, I wish you to live without problems, I wish you not to be upset, and to forget about all grievances!
***
There are comets that approach our planet once every hundred years. Let's raise our glasses to ensure that we meet the approach of the next comet with the same composition as today.
***
Graduates, hello to you all, We haven’t seen you for a long time, and now fate has brought us together again in this hall!
***
My friends, I wish everyone, That everyone’s dreams come true, I drink to the dregs for our meeting, I wish that everyone smiles!
***
We met today, We all found time with you, The years flew by quickly, We, of course, grew up!
***
But in our hearts we are still the same, We are all cheerful, friendly, And today I drink to us, To our glorious, wonderful class!
***
I drink to the meeting, to the goodness, May everything be fine, May we always meet, Every other day, every other year!
***
- So that they appreciate, take care of, So that we preserve the memory, So that we come to school, And bring the children!
***
And maybe even grandchildren, Brought to our former class, So as not to give up, I drink to you, comrades!
***
Look, time is merciless: many of us have changed, we managed to start a family, we work without knowing how to sleep for an hour. Let's see each other more often, not forgetting our youthful beauty.
Toasts and table jokes for meeting classmates.
It's been a long time since you graduated from school. Twenty years have passed since the prom. You've been lucky and unlucky. In a word, life has been tossed around.
***
- Some are immersed in their careers, Some write books, Some are happily in love, Some have children. I’ll raise a glass to you, let everything be top class!
***
It's like a train is moving faster and faster. Where are you now, friends - girlfriends of my Komsomol youth?
***
It's been so long since I've seen you! Our paths did not cross. Let's get together with old friends. How much longer do we have to go alone?
***
Let's remember class, tent summer, and dates in the apple orchard. Motor ship and scarlet dawns. Leningrad and swans in the pond.
***
High school graduation. Merry sad holiday. And the teacher’s big order: Having grown up, sometimes, just once, look into your own, favorite class!
***
Let's remember how together, the whole horde, we saw off the guys to the Army. Wishing to achieve military glory, they waited for letters from their soldiers.
***
- We don’t need sad dates to invite friends to the round table. We have always been close. Can we turn back time?
***
Years fly by and sometimes passing by, we do not recognize all the acquaintances who are close to us in soul. Everyone thinks about their own things.
***
So let's meet, guys! And let’s light our “Cool Light”. Let's remember all the things, events, dates, Let's plunge into youth for an hour.
***
Having laid out the family albums, Let's drink sweet wine together. Let the school classroom become our common home.
***
My son came to me, a scoundrel, and asked melancholy: “Classmates, father - What is this?
***
- Where the path to betrayal is visible, The goal is clear, and the means, Where do they want to return themselves to Brezhnev’s childhood?
***
I drew my son to me and said with sadness: “The FSB database - That’s what we are!”
***
— When they meet five years later, they hug and exclaim: “Bah, what people!!” and then they go somewhere together.
***
-After 10 years, they smile broadly and say: “How many years, how many winters. "and share the news with interest
***
-After 20 years, they say hello while running and say: “We need to get together somehow,” and run away without agreeing on a meeting.
***
- -After 30 years, they almost sincerely say: “You look great” and immediately start talking about their grandchildren. And
***
After 50 years, they open their eyes wide and in response to a greeting they ask: “Who are you?”
***
Memories. Conversations. Exchange of business cards. Success. And the reconciliation of an old quarrel, And children's laughter, as once upon a time.
***
Let's remember the frogs in the milk When things get hard for us. You look - and we’ll jump out onto land, And our souls will become light.
***
At school we were taught to think, to prove. Even if he’s wrong. We were taught to live as an adult, which is not made up of flowers and herbs.
***
- Now the blizzards and blizzards have ceased to make noise, and the snow has disappeared again with meltwater. And our souls also warmed up, And familiar eyes met.
***
Yes, life abandoned us, which is scary to even remember. We lived sometimes rejoicing, sometimes loving. But today, on this beautiful day
***
We met 30 years later! Now so sedate and important, We have become more patient and wiser.
***
Breakfast. Tea. Briefcase. Notebook. Shoes. Path. Crows. Check. Being late. Fail.
***
Turn. Behavior. Two. Head teacher Sadness. Clarification. Call. Running up the stairs. Lesson.
***
Two. Disappointment. Perspective. Punishment. Optimism. The fight against vice. Jokes. Laughter. End of lessons!
***
House. One. Hooray! Toys. Soup. Pancakes. Compote. Cheesecakes. Rest. Cartoon program. Telephone. Computer. Mother.
***
Meeting. Kiss. Diary. Oh! Belt. Questions. Scream. Excuses. Snot. Tears. Exclamations. Threats.
***
Reconciliation. Textbook. -Do it yourself! -Yes. Reshebnik. Dinner. Bath. Relaxation. Repeat tomorrow morning:
What I understood about life after meeting my classmates 30 years later
“Every classmate who became a teacher or doctor looked happy” - and 29 more lessons on the fate of my classmates - Harvard graduates of 1988.
Last weekend, I and 597 other Harvard 1988 graduates met in a large lecture hall for a lecture by the university's new president, Lawrence Bakov, who discussed the importance of diversity in admissions. One of the important points of his speech—I’m paraphrasing here because I didn’t take notes—is that Harvard could admit only the smartest applicants to its students, but that’s not what the university is striving for. Harvard strives to embrace diversity—not just in race and nationality, but in geography, politics, interests, intellectual fields, and worldviews of its students.
I loved my four years at Harvard precisely because of the diversity of my classmates. I don’t like the fact – difficult to comprehend, but now made public during the trial – that the children of wealthy parents who donated buildings to the university received preferences. But I understand why the University Advancement Office would do this, because it finds free tuition opportunities for any talented student whose family makes less than $65,000 a year. I also don't like the words in the Harvard anthem about "ten thousand men at Harvard," even though today there are at least as many women as men studying there, and that there are "fraternities" that don't admit women (although lately they've been increasingly sanctions are used more often). But nevertheless, every visit to the university makes me nostalgic.
I agree that diversity is important, even if it means prioritizing an immigrant child with a lower score, and this despite being a member of the majority that was among the first to suffer from such restrictions: Harvard's diversity was first put in place to limit the growing number of Jews at the university. It's not just about the ratio of "colored, black and white faces" - it's about the diversity of origin, upbringing and thinking, only through overcoming these differences can we realize how similar we are.
One of the most remarkable things about our 30th anniversary meeting was that no matter our ability, income, skin color, religion, health or family structure, we found common themes running through our lives, which had less to do with Harvard and more to do with pressing human issues.
Life always proves the correctness of this position. To each. No matter how our paths diverge after graduation. This happens at a certain point in the timeline of our lives when we experience the mother of all universal themes - the sudden approach to death. As proof, I present to you this - far from exhaustive - list of 30 simple general conclusions that I came to after attending the 30th anniversary of my graduation.
- No one's life turned out the way they expected - even the most confident people.
- Each of those who chose a career as a teacher or doctor was satisfied with their choice.
- Many lawyers either looked unhappy or wanted to change a lot in their lives or were unhappy—except for those who became law professors.
- Almost every banker or fund manager wanted to find a way to use their accumulated wealth to retire (some with specific plans, some not), and many wanted to leave Wall Street as soon as possible to pursue some kind of art.
- Speaking of art, those who chose this field to build a career were generally happy and often successful, but for some reason they all turned out to be not very stable financially.
- It is believed that money can't buy happiness, but according to our class's online survey before the meeting, those of us with more money reported higher levels of happiness than those with less.
- Our greatest desires as students - more sex and more money - have today given way to the more banal "more sleep."
- “Burning Down the House,” our band's favorite song sung by the guys from Talking Heads, is still as good and relevant in 2021 as it was 30 years ago.
- The shyest guys from our group turned out to be one of the most active organizers of the memorial meeting.
- Those who decided to get a divorce looked happy after the divorce.
- Those who were forcibly divorced did not particularly enjoy life
- Many classmates who have been married for a long time say that they experienced a turning point when their early marriage suddenly turned into a mature relationship. "I'm doing everything I can!" - one of them said to her husband during a particularly stressful therapy session. From that moment on, she said, her husband began to accept her shortcomings more easily.
- Almost all graduates said they were embarrassed by the harshness of modern youth
- We have all become much more generous with our words of love. This applies not only to loved ones, we have expanded our understanding of what love is.
- Regardless of who the graduates of my year became - a congressman like Jim Himes; Tony Award winner as Diane Paulus; an astronaut like Stephanie Wilson - most of our conversations at various parties and panel discussions throughout the weekend revolved around the desire for love, comfort, intellectual development, worthy leadership, a stable environment, friendship and stability.
- Almost all graduates with children seemed happy with their decision to have them. Some childless people were happy, others, on the contrary, really regretted it.
- Drinking with the roommate you lived with 30 years ago is even more fun than it used to be.
- Stay with an old friend or spend the night in a hotel? As we age, we increasingly prefer the second option.
- Almost all married graduates left their other halves at home without taking them to the meeting.
- Life has taken a toll on our bodies.
- Alcohol drunk 30 years ago is clearly visible on the face today.
- Women generally looked better than men
- But men have achieved more in earnings and careers
- The lack of affordable child care and paid maternity leave had far-reaching consequences for many of our classmates, most of whom were women: careers failed, compromises were made in terms of work and money.
- When the bell at the top of the Memorial Church rang 27 times to mark the passage of those who graduated 27 years ago, we all knew, on an intuitive level, that we would have to hear this ringing for more and more times over the next 30 years.
- You could put together a memorial choir of former graduates, none of whom had ever practiced with each other, and they would sound together as if they had been practicing for weeks. Even when performing a new original piece with a conductor.
- Over the age of 50, people seem to feel an urgent need to tell the truth and thank each other before it is too late to do so. One of my classmates thanked me for what happened in 1984. A classmate whom I didn’t know well, but who had read my book in which I talk about taking a taxi to the hospital, offered to pay for the emergency call next time, no matter how much it cost. “It’s okay,” I replied, laughing. "I'm not going back to the emergency room anytime soon."
- Those who have lost a child have shown instructive resilience. “You shouldn’t be sad because she lived so little,” said one of our classmates, remembering his daughter who died last summer. “On the contrary, it’s worth thanking God for the 21 years that she shone for me.”
- Those of us who have experienced serious illness or near death were especially inspired by the event. "We're still here!" - I told my friend who once ran a medical company and beat cancer. We giggled like babies, practically bouncing on our toes, unable to stop hugging each other and smiling as we told each other the gruesome details of our hospital adventures.
- Love isn't all you need, but as one classmate told me, "it's so much better."
Author: Deborah Copaken. The text is published with abbreviations. Deborah Copaken is a contributor to The Atlantic and has written The Red Book and Shutterbabe.
Source Original
Toasts for the alumni meeting
We met today, We all found time with you, The years flew by quickly, We, of course, grew up!
***
But in our hearts we are still the same, We are all cheerful, friendly, And today I drink to us, To our glorious, wonderful class!
***
I drink to the meeting, to the goodness, May everything be fine, May we always meet, Every other day, every other year!
***
So that they appreciate, take care of, So that we preserve the memory, So that we come to school, And bring the children!
***
And maybe even grandchildren, Brought to our former class, So as not to give up, I drink to you, comrades!
***
Graduates, let's drink to our school days, to how we laughed with you, to how friendly we were with you!
***
For our jokes, for our smiles, For our adult years, For our meeting today, I will drink while standing and to the bottom!
***
“Business Slavyansk” has collected for you the best toasts for a meeting of classmates.
School is...
Each class receives a piece of paper with the word “school” written on it in a vertical position. Each class must decipher this word in its own way, putting its own meaning into it. For example, Ш - a wide circle of K - beauty O - education L - love A - absolute victories or Ш - the chance of K - each O - to organize L - personal A - the vanguard of the world and so on. The class will receive a prize for the fastest and best decoding. If the competition is held within a specific class, each former student does the decoding.
Congratulations-toast for Homecoming Evening
Remembering school, we will smile again: Forgotten swing, first love. Anxious silences during the test, And the smell of sweet buns coming from the dining room. Now we have matured, knowing our worries: Family and children, fatigue after work. But again, here we are together today, Like in distant childhood, we laugh from the heart.
***
When they meet five years later, they hug and exclaim: “Bah, what people!!” and then they go somewhere together.
***
After 10 years, they smile broadly and say: “How many years, how many winters. "and share the news with interest
***
After 20 years, while running they say hello and say: “We need to get together somehow,” and run away without agreeing on a meeting.
***
After 30 years, they almost sincerely say: “You look great,” and immediately start talking about their grandchildren. And
***
After 50 years, they open their eyes wide and in response to a greeting they ask: “Who are you?”
***
This is the day, this is the meeting, I rejoice at you all, friends, For you, graduates, I’m drinking to the dregs now!
***
I wish you to gather more often, I wish you all health, I wish you no longer get lost, prosperity for everyone and goodness for everyone!
***
I wish you all good luck, happiness, I wish you to live without problems, I wish you not to be upset, and to forget about all grievances!
***
Remembering school, we will smile again: Forgotten swing, first love. Anxious silences during the test, And the smell of sweet buns coming from the cafeteria;
***
Now we have matured, knowing our worries: Family and children, fatigue after work. But again, here we are together today, Like in distant childhood, we laugh from the heart.
Why there is no point in meeting former classmates
When considering the opportunity to go to a celebration of former classmates, it is worth asking the question: do you really want to see all of these people who have been around for almost 30 years as strangers? Most likely, after snatches of memories from school life, general topics for conversation will dry up. It will be necessary to get acquainted again, build bridges, look for common ground.
There is no guarantee that the party will take place in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, because by examining and evaluating each other, envy, gossip, misunderstandings, discussions, etc. will probably arise.
How to stop the endless search for a man and live happily
The "to be or not to be" choice on this meeting evening can be justified in both contexts. But still... If you want to communicate with friends and classmates, pretentious events have nothing to do with it.
What should be the toast at a classmate meeting?
We haven’t seen you for a long time, dear friends. That school bench has forgotten us. Where we all sat together after school. Do you remember how many vows we made?
***
That we will be friends forever, That we will treasure our friendship, What we will be like after school
***
And do you remember all our teachers? After all, there are no nicer people in the world than they are. I’m glad that we have gathered today And that we all got to the place.
***
I want to say “hello” to everyone, friends, we can’t go without seeing each other for so long. We should meet with you more often. Perhaps we’ll smile wider after the meeting.
