"Man of Action Attends Reunion"
by Todd 'Death' Oberman '83

I've become a man of action. I just signed up and simply went to the '82 reunion this past June. I'm officially '83, but started with '82. I attended Reunion despite the fact that the "College powers-that-be" would not sanction our request to cluster for our 25th reunion. Classmates in our now permanent "20th reunion" e-mail distribution list (20threunion@lyris.grinnell.edu) covering '82, '83 and '84 had bemoaned the injustice of not allowing us to gather across several classes once again for our 25th. Me? I just went.

I do have the benefit of living relatively close to Grinnell. We've been back in our home town of St. Louis for four years. The St. Louis to Grinnell drive has always been a scenic, blue-highway drive. My 15 year old daughter, Nina Rose, joined me for the weekend. She had just finished her freshman year of high school and had developed a beginning interest in thinking about colleges. She was also a bit interested in finding out some dirt on her old man. (Yes, she's aware of my "name," although, she calls me Dad.)

Reunion began with me finding a lawn chair circle of '82 classmates under the large Cottonwood on south campus. I had parked my car next to the Pine Tree house, where I lived my second year (when it was still a porch with windows covering two sides and a door to the outside), and cut through the south campus loggia between Cleveland and the now infrequently used Quad.

Reflecting on it now, I'm astonished and filled with delight at how conversations that ended 25 years ago comfortably pickup again mid-sentence. I'm even more warmed by how those that never started could be so familiar; even with classmates with whom I had little interaction as a student. Feeling the connection was the highlight. Seeing the changes of the campus and facilities was worthwhile, but tends to raise my curmudgeon. I prefer to focus on the "Grinnell Experience" which for me was always about the classmates and professors, the people in our lives.

This year's Reunion included the 35th cluster for '71, '72 and '73, Grinnellians who have developed a reputation for their rocking musical performances and dance parties. As might be expected in this day and age, my young'n showed up dancing on YouTube along with other '82 classmates and their offspring. I'm glad no one caught me shaking my Jello.