For those of you that were unable to attend the reunion or those of you
that would like to read a copy of the speech Bob Porter gave it is provided
below. We ask that you please do not copy or use this speech without
specific permission of Bob Porter. You can write Bob at:
bigcity2@aol.com.
50th
Reunion Speech -
Bremen Community High
School
Class of 1963 Reunion
September 21, 2013
At Bartolini's Restaurant
Midlothian, Illinois
Please Note:
written and given by Bob Porter, class of 63
Thank you, Ray. It’s good to see you. And it is good to see all of you, as well, after a fifty year road trip, on a night when some great conversation and communication are about to take place. But before we go on, please power down your laptops, tablets, IPads, IPods, IPhones, Kindles, and Androids so that we don’t have any interruptions from blogging, emailing, texting, tweeting, or streaming Has the way we
communicate changed, or what?...arguably, everything has changed since we
graduated…well…some things don’t change.
If you put your T-shirts and socks in the dryer, they always come out
inside out…but most ways we communicate
have changed in a giant way…like tonight…we all wear name tags…because
we have changed…I’ll admit that I didn’t recognize many of you and most
of you needed to read my name tag to find out who I am…but there is a reason for
my not being recognizable…let me tell
you a story… …a few years ago
an intruder broke into our house well after midnight…he stealthily ascended the
stairs to the second floor, then quietly headed down the hallway toward the
master bedroom…my wife, a light sleeper, sensed someone entering the room and
sat upright …but he didn’t go to her…he immediately lurched my way…then, in full
view of my wife and in an instant, he attacked me, tearing away my youthful,
slim, and chiseled body and replacing it with the cartoonish torso you see
before you tonight!…true story…this is not my
real body…I used to be lanky!… …On a more honest
note, I did try to observe something as we all arrived tonight…I wanted to see
how
you communicated your greetings
with one another when you met…there were handshakes, some pats on the
shoulder…but the way
we greet is different than how
the younger generation does it…they have morphed from handshakes to high fives
to hand slapping to chest bumps to fist bumps to hugging that is completely out
of control… ….the internet and
the years since graduation also gave rise to the greatest gift that folks of our
age could ever have received…the gift of clichés and quotes…in fact, we are
swarmed with them…well…24/7… …emailing and
texting have given us acronyms like LOL (laughing out loud), TMI (too much
information), and BFF (best friends forever)…they have also given us the most
important acronym you may ever know…
We have learned
new terms like the Mullet hair style, which someone perfectly described as
“business in front, party in the back”, chick flick, couch potato, flash mob,
mega church, staycation, and the perfect storm… …”been there, done that”…”but wait-there’s more!”... “I’ll be back”…”just sayin’”...”it could happen!”...”dude”…Audience participation…you can help me finish these quotes: ”I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!”...”It’s so easy a caveman can do it”…”make him an offer he can’t refuse”…”Who you gonna call?...Ghostbusters”…excellent, thank you… Now…I’m not
suggesting that you have ever had a disagreement with your spouse, significant
other, or a family member…we know that doesn’t happen…but, for the sake of
discussion, let us say you’ve had a minor dispute…have you ever used or heard
these terms:…”Houston, we have a problem!”…”Is
that your final answer?”…”Hello-oh!”…”That’s my story and I’m sticking to
it”…”Duh!”…”Don’t make me put my cell phone down!”…or the big one, “Don’t go
there, don’t EVEN go there!”…any sound familiar?...cliches and quotes, what a
gift… Lastly…Let me
communicate a final thought to you
before you begin your own
communication at your tables tonight: If you have ever
cared for someone afflicted by disease or accident or simply being older, you
still rise. If you have ever
volunteered your personal time to help support a worthy cause, you still rise. If you have ever
freely given of your expertise to someone you know can’t afford to pay, you
still rise.
September 21, 2013
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