Just recently, our high school class marked 45 years since graduation. Many members of the Lexington High School Class
of ’67 gathered, some with spouses, some without.
Unfortunately,
we didn’t have any of our teachers with us but we did have our principal, Joe
Bedenbaugh.
What we
learned – and what we were surprised about - was that our high school principal
actually has a sense of humor. Maybe
it’s a new persona for Joe Bedenbaugh.
Then again, maybe he has had a sense of humor forever and we just didn’t
know it.
We were all
scared to death of the man. He was tall,
always in a dark suit, and seemed quite formidable.
Getting
sent to the principal’s office was not a treat or a reward, of course. No one ever bragged about making an assigned
visit to see the principal. No one ever
wanted to take home a note to have a parent call the principal. No student ever wanted to see a parent
chatting with the principal at a football game or anywhere else.
When Joe
Bedenbaugh was recognized at the class reunion, he stood – still as tall as
ever – and, lo and behold, he smiled!
And then he said a few funny things.
Could this
be, was this really the same man who struck fear into our very beings in high
school?
He told us
he had attended a Newberry College reunion where someone told him he was
looking more like himself than he used to!
(Go figure that one out!)
As I ate my
meal that night, someone came over to me, leaned down and said, “Mr. Bedenbaugh
would like to see you.”
Forty-five
years later and, just like old times, those words still caused me to gulp. Turns out, he just wanted to tell me he
enjoys reading my weekly newspaper column, which is usually on my blog as well.
So, Mr.
Bedenbaugh, this one’s for you!
And, by the
way, thanks for reading. That means we’re
now up to about four regular readers.
------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment