COULD IT BE THAT IS WAS ALL SO SIMPLE THEN? OR HAS TIME REWOVEN EVERY TURTLENECK? IT OCCURRED TO ME THE OTHER DAY, ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE APOLLO 11 LANDING THAT I HAD WATCHED MAN'S FIRST STEPS ON THE MOON AT SHELLY FOREMAN'S HOUSE. NOW, NOT ONLY IS IT TEN YEARS LATER THERE ISN'T EVEN A SHELLY FOREMAN. AND BY SHEEREST COINCIDENCE, SHE MARRIED SOMEONE NAMED ARMSTRONG.

THINKING OF SHELLY MADE ME THINK OF THE MEXICO TOUR. WHY? BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T GO. (MY MIND HAS ITS OWN WAY OF CONNECTING THINGS UP.) HOW MANY PEOPLE REMEMBER THE FINAL "USEFUL SPANISH PHRASE" DON BLUTH INCLUDED FOR OUR BENEFIT IN PREPARATION FOR THE TRIP? IT WAS "I WANT TO BE BURIED IN THE UNITED STATES....... SOME LEADERS JUST NATURALLY KNOW HOW TO INSTILL CONFIDENCE...

BUT MY PURPOSE HERE IS NOT TO BE NOSTALGIC, OR TO DWELL ON BITS OF "NEW GENERATION TRIVIA". WHAT IS MY PURPOSE HERE, THEN? I ONLY WISH I KNEW. RICK CORNERED ME AND SAID, "YOU HAVE TO WRITE THIS THING RIGHT NOW!"

IN LOOKING OVER THE ROSTER RICK HAS ASSEMBLED OF OLD "NEW GENERATIONERS", I SEE A NUMBER OF NAMES I DON'T RECOGNIZE. LOGIC TELLS ME THAT THEY MUST NOT RECOGNIZE MY NAME EITHER. BUT KNOW EACH OTHER OR NOT, WE ALL HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON. OUR NAMES ARE ON THE LIST. ISN'T THAT NICE?

AND ALL THIS BRINGS US TO THE PRESENT. YOU DID BRING ME A PRESENT, DIDN'T YOU? I HOPE IT'S NOTHING TOO EXPENSIVE, JUST NICE, YOU KNOW..... ACTUALLY IN CONSIDERING THE PRESENT (THE OTHER KIND), IT IS CERTAINLY INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT HAS BECOME OF ALL THE DIVERSE (AND THAT'S NO EXAGGERATION) INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE ONCE MEMBERS OF THAT ORGANIZATION. IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO ANYBODY, I'LL BRING YOU UP TO DATE ON A FEW RIGHT NOW:

1. APRIL BUNTING: AFTER SEVERAL YEARS IN THE MINOR LEAGUES SHE HAS JOINED THE ATLANTA BRAVES AND IS LIVING UP TO HER NAME.
2. ARVA HAMMOND: SHE HAS GONE INTO THE ELECTRIC ORGAN BUSINESS, AND IS BEST KNOWN FOR THE ORGAN SHE DESIGNED CALLED THE "ARVA B-3". (IF THAT JOKE ESCAPES YOU, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT)
3. CHRIS ZERMENO IS DRIFTING.
4. ROCKET RODEN HAS GONE ON TO INTERNATIONAL FAME FOR HIS IMPRESSIONS OF BULLWINKLE, SNAGGLEPUSS AND BEETHOVEN. HE HAS ALSO BOUGHT SEVERAL PAIRS OF SWEATPANTS.
5. STANLEY SHIMOTSU HAD AN OPERATION ON HIS EYES AND HAS SINCE BECOME DIS-ORIENTED. (THINK ABOUT IT.)
6. ROGER AND DAVID McKAY HAVE RETIRED LIVING ON THE ACCRUED INCOME FROM THEIR DOUBLEMINT COMMERCIALS.
7. DIANE DAVISSON WORKS IN CENTURY CITY WHERE SHE GIVES CUTENESS LESSONS. HER MOTHER AND SISTER HAVE BECOME BLACKJACK DEALERS, AND HER FATHER IS IN THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION.
8. TOM MacREYNOLDS IS MAKING DEMOS.
9. RAE SEVERNS HAS SOLD HER GAS STATION AND BECOME A MEMBER OF O.P.E.C. WHERE SHE COLLECTS HER SEVERNS PAY.
10. LESLIE SHULMAN, LESLIE CARPENTER, CARLA MANNING, AND SEVERAL OTHER NEW GENERATION GIRLS STILL GET TOGETHER SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK TO CRY OVER THE LOVE THEY COULD NEVER QUITE GET OVER (WHO SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS ... (AHEM... )

ONE LAST THOUGHT. I HOPE YOU ALL WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO BE AT THE REUNION. IT SHOULD BE LOTS OF FUN, AND EVEN IF IT ISN'T, IT HAS TO BE INTERESTING. RICK HAS EXTORTED FROM ME A PROMISE TO BE THERE. HOPE I SEE YOU. IF I DON'T SEE YOU, I HOPE I REMEMBER YOU. IF I DON'T REMEMBER YOU, FORGET THE WHOLE THING.