Catching up with some old high school buddies

BY CLAIRE LYNCH

I never knew Rachel until freshman year at St. Agnes Cathedral High School in Rockville Centre. We had different homerooms and different classes but we were both in the band and orchestra. Rachel played the flute and I played the trombone. We connected one day when I couldn’t find my sheet music and she heard me wondering out loud about where it might have gone.

Spotting it on the seat next to me, she asked if that was it. Thanking her, I made some joke and after that we were fast friends. We had the same sense of humor and saw the world in a similar way. We made a point of always chatting before and after band practice and on a field trip her class and my class were together so we had a chance to hang out.

One weekend Rachel was having a party at her parents’ house and she invited kids from her class and the school band including me. Rachel said she lived on Salem Road in Rockville Centre, just think of the witches in Massachusetts, and sure enough that was an easy way to remember her street. It was east of the Rockville Links Golf Club and I’d been past that area many times in the car but never knew anyone who lived there.

My family’s house was further south, walkable to school and the many stores downtown on Sunrise Highway and Merrick Road. I didn’t know several people at Rachel’s party but there were 14 people in all, and after the party got underway, we had a good time. That day I met Rachel’s parents who were keeping a watchful eye on things.

After high school graduation Rachel headed to college in Rhode Island and I headed to school in Connecticut. We drifted apart for a while since we were on campuses meeting new people, joining new clubs and figuring out if our majors were going to stay our majors. Rachel was an economics major and I was a business major. Moving back to Long Island, I got my B.A. in English at Hofstra U. One day while food shopping I ran into Rachel’s mother, Mrs. Whitaker. I was happy to see her at the store and she gave me the family update.

Her sons had married and moved to New Jersey. Rachel had graduated from college then from law school in Massachusetts. Mrs. Whitaker said that Rachel had married and recently she mentioned going to her 20th reunion at St. Agnes High School. Curious, I said that I was going so hopefully we would connect.

We parted ways and I spent the next few weeks looking forward to attending my high school reunion. Sure enough Rachel and I caught up to each other the next month at the reunion. I was excited about seeing my old high school buddy plus many other classmates. Held at a local restaurant, Rachel and I shared a table with six other people and we all had a chance to compare notes.

Rachel had worked as an attorney at a NYC law firm and had three children, then two years prior Rachel and her husband, Tom, decided to move their family to rural Virginia and start a horse farm raising American Appendix horses - horses that are half Thoroughbred and half Quarter Horse. They live on a small ranch and spend hours taking care of their horses.

Their change in lifestyle was still pretty new to them but Rachel said that on typical days Tom spends more time with the horses and Rachel works as an attorney from her home office. The kids help on the farm and basically the whole family is enjoying their “rural life.” Rachel said that it was a big change from growing up on Long Island but they were ready for something different. They like the large, expansive space on their 12-acre farm and like the evening sunsets sitting outside talking about how their days went.

Last winter Rachel and I were chatting on the phone and decided that we didn’t need to wait for a high school reunion to get together. We invited two other friends for a girls’ weekend and after a bit of research we chose a French bistro in Westport, Ct., overlooking the Saugatuck River for dinner. It was a chilly evening when the four of us met and we enjoyed eating near a stone fireplace that warmed the room and created a beautiful ambiance.

Westport was a perfect place to meet since our two friends, Anna and Betsy, were from the Mount Kisco, NY, area so they had a nice scenic drive that took them about an hour. Picking up Rachel at the airport, we headed to Westport. Staying at a local inn, we spent our three-day weekend enjoying some delicious meals and chatting about our families, other classmates and what we were doing professionally. It was a fun time and we four never ran out of things to talk about.

Back home in Virginia, Rachel said the horse she likes to ride is named Cheddar and the three of us laughed as its unusual name. Betsy asked if Cheddar happened to be an orange color, like cheddar cheese, and we laughed some more picturing that.

Rachel added that one of her favorite parts of her day is when she is finished working in her office she will go out the back door and whistle at Cheddar. He always whinnies back at her, saying hello, and she smiles knowing that her horse recognizes her greeting. Sometimes she brushes him and braids his mane. Rachel said that horseback riding is a good way for her to unwind and to have some fun time with her family on weekends.

The four of us pledged to have another girls’ weekend - to meet whenever possible for a few days of laughter and good food. Whenever we meet we recharge our batteries and immediately start planning another get-together.