The Class of ‘76

by Jay Kerner

1976 was the Bi-Centennial Year. No matter what school you graduated from that spring, “red, white and blue” was a part of your color scheme. It was also the height of the disco era. Well, 50 years have gone by, and the Class of ’76 is getting together this summer to celebrate. (That’s the way, uh huh, uh huh, we like it!)
This time it’s the nation’s Howeveryouspellit-tennial, and as the reunion responses come in, it’s interesting to see how we’ve spread out around the planet from that same launching point, a half century ago. And how we’ve been doing every kind of thing! Add them together, and I can make an argument that the Class of ’76 has made an impact in just about any field you can think of.

Many of us are retired now, but plenty of us aren’t. We’re doctors and lawyers and bankers and bikers. We’re cooks and captains of industry. We’re nurses and teachers and artists and musicians. We’re white collar, blue collar, and tie-dyed T-shirts. We’re care-givers and care-takers. Some of us are care-receivers. We’re military leaders and shop foremen. We’re stay-at-home moms, dads, and grandparents as necessary. We’re volunteers. We’re civic leaders and civil servants.

We raised a lot of kids. A few of us started early. A few of us aren’t done yet! Some of us used to go drink 3.2 beer in Kansas. Now we drink “Craft Beers.” Some back then bought “ditch-weed” from their neighborhood dealer (or so I heard). Now a lot more of us get artisan-gummies from your choice of dispensaries. Some of us look remarkably like our yearbook photos. Some of us couldn’t be farther from it. All of us will make discreet use of name tags at the reunion.

At our 10-year reunion, it was all about “new families,” “new jobs,” “new houses,” etc. At our 25-year reunion, it was second homes for some, second marriages for others. Fifty years after graduation, I’d have to say the biggest factor for a lot of us is health. Sadly, we have classmates whose health challenges will keep them from attending this summer. Still, others of us are running marathons.

We’re a good-looking class! We are! Pick a yearbook from one ahead or one behind. There’s no comparison! And we make good-looking kids, too! Sorry (not sorry), other classes, but it’s a fact. Maybe it was something in the water back in ‘57/58? Overall, I feel pretty good about the Class of ‘76. We didn’t fix all the problems of the world, but we made headway in a lot of areas. And I like to think we raised the next generation to keep it going. I can’t wait for the reunion. These are the human beings that I experienced this little spot on the globe with, at the same age, at the same time.

We saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan together. Got sent home together when Kennedy was shot. Watched the moon landing together. Now we’re getting senior discounts together and comparing Medicare supplements. Anyone can see the Class of ’76 is a pretty special bunch. But nobody gets us like us! Or parties like us! We’ll do the hustle!