Hard To Believe… 20 Years Since the Class of ’95

It’s that time of year again.  My family has received a few graduation party invitations.  All these fresh-faced teenagers are getting ready to graduate high school and move on to the next step of their lives.  The innocence.  The energy.  The hope.  Damn kids these days.  This spring marks 20 years since my high school graduation.  That’s right, Maquoketa Class of ’95!  That’s more than half of my life ago!  Yikes.

I guess you could say that my class lacked initiative.  Even today, I don’t think anybody has really taken the reigns and put in the effort to organize a class reunion for our 20^th.  That lack of initiative reminds me our football team from senior year.  We underachieved, went 4-5, and got trounced by our arch rival DeWitt in the final game of the season – a game that, had we won, would’ve sent us to the playoffs.  We even had future Cyclone and NFL player, Sage Rosenfels at quarterback (he was a junior).

A lot has changed in 20 years… yes, including my hairline.  The music was great in ‘95.  Cobain died at the end of my junior year, but I was just getting into Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Live, Green Day, Weezer, Nine Inch Nails, the Chili Peppers, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins – bands still heard on the KRNA airwaves today.