David Drake

Peter,

I also want to add my congratulations on your great career. I also have followed your career in the papers and on your facebook videos and appreciate all the work you have done on behalf of your constituants and your country.

Dave

Peter DeFazio

Dave:  🙏🏻 It has been an interesting Lon run. 🎉🎄‼️

Russell Provost

Watching "Downfall :The Case Against Boeing" on Netflix.  US Representative Peter DeFazio featured prominently in his dogged House investigation into the 2 Boeing crashes  Congress will miss you  

Peter DeFazio

Russ:  🙏🏻  I changed the way FAA certifies aircraft so this won't happen again. But I am still pissed that the CEO left with a $63 million golden parachute he started and drove the whole thing and now the former chair of the board during the entire debacle is CEO.  The culture hasn't changed they ruined  the formerly best aerospace manufacturer in the world in the chase of the Almighty Dollar. P

Kevin Tracey

    My Windows

How many?
How many windows have I looked through?
Thousands?  Tens of thousands?  I wouldn't begin to hazard a guess.
How many hours spent looking?
Thousands?  Tens of thousands?  Again, I wouldn't begin to hazard a guess.
 I'm leaving out all those hours spent looking out of car windows, train windows, plane windows.
 Just those windows that came with a home I once lived in.  Old windows, windows that frost formed on, that the wind would whistle through,  that let the heat out and the cold in. 
There are a few, a handful that if I close my eyes, I could reach out and touch.  I could tell you with certainty what color they were painted, which ones were chipped, what the shade looked like, whether the glass had any ripples or cracks, what they smelled like, felt like.  I can hear the noises they would make when the wind blew.  The noises they would make when I opened or closed them.  I could point out the tracks they moved in, the ropes holding the sash weights, the locks.  I could tell you which ones stayed open, which ones needed a stick to keep them open.  
They all have those old green shades, no pull cord, just a piece of wood fed in through a sewn in slot at the bottom to grab.  Shades that never stayed where you wanted them to.  Shades that would roll up on their own.
I liked my old windows.  I liked that they weren't perfect.  I liked that they made noises, that not all the locks worked, that screws came loose, that they required maintenance to keep them working.
 I'd like to go back to those rooms again, to those windows. 
 

Jeanne Mahoney (Leffers)

Missed some messages along here--but Kevin, really like this reflection on the simple notion of our windows.  Also, add my thoughts to huge congratulations to Peter Defazio for his long and important service to our country as a representative to Congress.  Thank you! 

Carolyn Campbell (Kay)

Kevin,  Thank you for your short reflections on life. Each one that you've published here is a treasure. Each brings back memories for me too. Thanks again.

Gunnard Johnston

Kevin's Way-Back Machine.    All aboard!!

I, too, find myself reminiscing about my youthful experiences.   A lot more than ever before.   Why is that?  Could it be that our physical life is running its course, step by step???

Peter DeFazio

Kevin:  Thanks for your reflections as always. I have spent way too much time looking out airplane windows the last 36 years on transcontinental flights - looking forward to more time with windows I can open. Thanks Jeanne for the kind words. Peter DeFazio

Kevin Tracey

Its me again.

Read some of the posts for Russ Norton, the nostalgia involved, the whistfulness expressed.  Russ, for me, was one of those guys you passed in the hall and said hi to.  I always thought he was a good guy.  Same goes for the guys that posted on his In Memory site. What they wrote made me think of how important those friends from our youth were, as we moved down that path from childhood to adolescence to adulthood.  How we eventually go down different paths and lose touch.  One day they are just gone, gone from our lives. Those friends from our youth knew the hand you were dealt.  They understood you better then the friends you have made as adults because of that shared youth, shared promise, shared pain.  They were more likely to forgive you, less likely to judge you and could make you laugh even in the worst of times.  I've tracked down a few of my childhood friends, my first love.  What I found was they knew you when your life was still ahead of you, full of promise.  Their mere presence can give you back some of what was taken, lost in time, if only for a little while. When you are with them, in contact with them, you're not old.  

I miss them.  I miss all of you.

Carolyn Campbell (Kay)

Kevin,  Thank you for your insight. I have one friend from childhood that I've stayed in touch with. You're right of course. We are connected just as we were in the '50s and '60s. It's a treasure.

Gunnard Johnston

Everybody, don't worry.   We'll all be able to meet again.   Today, tomorrow, forever.   Life doesn't end.   We keep what we make of ourselves forever.   God be with everyone, now and forevermore.

Gunnard Johnston

Douglas Chamberlin

Gunnard, Amen. 

Carol Salvaggio (Beals)

Though it saddens me to hear of classmates passing, I enjoy reading the posts and reminiscing about the good old days. I, like Carolyn, am still in touch with my "old" best friend, Cheryl Smuth. Thanks to our previous class reunion, we were able to find each other again and get together quite a lot. We seemed to never miss a beat from those teenage years til now. Thinking fondly of you all. 

Kevin Tracey

Hey

We've lost another classmate. Neil Roberts has died. 
You can find his obit in the Cape Cod Times. 
Another one of the good ones!

Gunnard Johnston

Neil and I were hockey buddies during out PeeWee and Bantam years.   Used to go to the Boston Arena to watch the NHS games.   Neil's dad would load 6 or 7 of us into his Chevy station wagon.   Some great memories, saw some great games, played some great games.   

Kevin Tracey

Hey Neil

I remember and I'm sure a couple of you that read this will also. Life before indoor rinks, before the Zamboni, before tendon guards on skates, before helmets we had Rosemary Lake. Rosemary Lake, where on occasion the whole town of Needham in the fifties showed up to skate. Boys with their watch caps, hockey sticks and a puck. Girls with their figure skates, sweaters and wool mittens. And, we'd skate, all day, the ice usually full of cracks, snow from all the skating and areas where the ice thinned out. Then throw in the sand from the "beach" where we'd put our skates on that blew out onto the ice. It made for some interesting events while out there, falls, puck bouncing God knows where, skating with and against the wind.  I met Neil there. We were very young. We both had older brothers that skated, played hockey. There was always a game out on the ice that the older kids played. We, the little brothers would watch. When a puck got shot out beyond their game, out onto the lake, we, the little brothers would race out after it and fight over it to bring it back to the game. We'd always hope they'd let us play. Once in a great while, when they were desperate for another kid they would. They'd stick us in the goal or on defense. Bored with watching, we'd go over to the "wall" the one that was in front of the road and Tillitson's (sp) and practice our shots. Over and over, taking turns, hoping the puck would bounce off the wall and not into the water next to the wall where ice never formed. Never knew Neil's name then nor he, mine. We were just the little brothers. When the day ended, I'd walk home with my older brother, saying, "See ya," to Neil. Thats how I met Neil, just one of the little brothers circa 1955. I got to know Neil in PeeWee hockey and in junior high. Just a solid, good kid. He went on to co-captain our high school team, off to Merrimack College, law school and life on Cape Cod. Never ran into him after high school. Saw his obit, felt sad for his passing and thought about Rosemary Lake , our older brothers and hoping they'd let us play in their game. 
So Neil, I remember. 
"See ya."
 

Bill Cullinane (History Teacher)

Well said 

Kevin Tracey

https://www.capecodtimes.com/obituaries/pneo0817360

Les McKechnie

Kevin, thanks for posting the obit on "Mr B"..... great story ... I had to scratch a few dormant braiin cells to remember him.... IIRC he had the "metal shop" and Mr Perin had the "wood shop" . Mr Perin was obviously a great carpenter (and teacher) because he was missing a few fingers. To this day, I do not operate a drill or a saw without thinking of my finger placement and I still have all ten ....thank you Mr Perin.  My wife calls me a pack-rat and not just because I still have the wood lamp somewhat resembling a hand water pump and water trough. Back to "Mr B" ....I remember learning how to weld and the sulfur smell and the noise it made. Never did that again .... I do not recall any girls in those classes or me being in any "Home Econ" classes, but I have a vague memory of something called "the chef's club". Was there a law that females could not attend shop class back then? .  IMHO education took a wrong turn when shop classes were eliminated in favor of VocTech . I learned more in shop classes than I ever did in Mr Herlihy's Physics class......

Kevin Tracey

Hey Les,

Couple of thought bubbles. 
First, we all made the rolling pin, water trough lamp. I gave mine to my Mom for Christmas. She loved it so much it wound up in my bedroom!😂

Second, we all had to line up and shake Mr. Perin's hand with the missing fingers as part of our shop safety lecture. It worked. 
Who thought turning 12-13yo boys loose on lathes, bandsaws, welding machines was a good idea!!  Turns out it was because we took more away from our shop experiences than I ever did from most of the other courses we had. 
I was a proud member of Chef's Club. We had a blast, wore the aprons and silly hats. Made pizza and brownies. 
It was a sexist era as, of course, no girls took shop, they took Home Ec. 
I have plenty of shop stories BTW
 

Robert deVeer

 Thanks for the memories.  Pollard shop classes were the best.  And don't forget drafting.  And yes, pizza in the Chefs Club.  So many lessons I have used my entire life.  Thanks Mr B & P

By the way, your discription of skating on Rosemary Pond was another great reflection of memories gone by. 
And yes watching games at the arena with Clark Hills, Lance Remsen, Curt Slack, Bob Hazard.  Got dropped off and picked up at Newton MTA and walked a few blocks to the arena.

It all changed shortly there after.  Hockey games off Rt 1 in Norwood.  Shallow ponds for skating in the town forest.

Virginia Day (Barbera)

Being the wicked tomboy that I was, I actually took a shop class in junior high with Mr. Perrin. I recall we had a free period once a week or something. I built a shelf.

Carolyn Campbell (Kay)

Good for you Ginnie.

Peter DeFazio

Kevin thanks for the memory. I remember Mr Perrin most with wood shop but your post reminded me I took one term in metal shop with Mr B still using skills taught by both. P