“The most valuable 
antiques are dear 
old friends.” 
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

According to the antique industry, the common consensus is that for an item to be accurately labeled an antique, it must be at least one hundred years old. This rule applies to just about everything, including furniture and more delicate goods. The term vintage, on the other hand, simply means “of age.” This makes it difficult to assign an exact date or age requirement to qualify.

I thought I’d mention this because H. Jackson Brown’s use of the word antiques in the quote above leaves me feeling a bit uncomfortable. I prefer the word vintage when I think of myself and my elementary school classmates.

Vintage often refers to wine from a particular harvest or crop. There are two dictionary definitions which invite me to gratefully embrace the term vintage as a description of people my age. The first still references wine, but it tells us that the word refers to “an exceptionally fine wine from the crop of a good year.” You know, the older you get, the better you get. I happen to believe that 1968 was a very good year.

The second dictionary definition of vintage I like is “representing the high quality of a past time.” This definition accurately describes the group of elementary school classmates I’ve been getting together with for the past thirteen years.

On Monday, November 11, 2013, a small group of us “kids” from the Saint Gabriel School Class of 1968 gathered for an informal lunch at Beach Chalet restaurant, just across from Ocean Beach in San Francisco. The gathering was organized by our classmate Chris Freiling. Chris lives in San Bernardino and is a math professor at California State University San Bernardino. He was going to be in the Bay Area for a brief visit and thought it might be a good idea to try to get together with some of his elementary school classmates.

Pictured in the photo above, you will see (left to right) Karen Morris, Davina Cosenza, Chris Freiling, me, Fran Donohue, Cathy (Koppel) Gibbs, and Joe Cirimele. The food was excellent. The view was amazing. And the conversation was non-stop for more than two hours. It was a wonderful experience for all who attended. Sadly, Joe Cirimele passed away just a few months after this gathering.

It was such a positive experience that we decided to meet-up again several months later. Others joined us. We had a simple bring-your-own-lunch-and-chair picnic at a park in Pleasanton. Since that time, we’ve been gathering three or four times each year. We’ve had picnics in Golden Gate Park and a number of formal meals at places like Delancey Street on the Embarcadero, Cypress Grill at Harding Park Golf Course, Scott’s in Jack London Square, Capurro’s on Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Olympic Club near Lake Merced. We’ve even had a couple of “Bocce & BBQ” events at Rossmoor in Walnut Creek. Most of our get-togethers have been informal picnics.

I had little, if any, contact with my elementary school classmates from the time I graduated from Saint Gabriel School in 1968 until the event held thirteen years ago today. I regret having lost all that time. So today, I am incredibly grateful for the friendships that have been rekindled.

There are about twenty of us, in all, who get together. Not everyone makes it to every event. Some few still live in The City, but others live in the North Bay, East Bay, South Bay, SoCal, and even as far away as the State of Washington. I look forward to getting together with them for years to come.