Going Home Again: Holy Trinity Reunion

They say you can’t go home again—that no matter how hard you try, you can never truly recapture those moments that memory refuses to let go of. Well, try telling that to all the former students of Holy Trinity Elementary School who came back home Saturday night to relive a little of their collective past in the hallowed halls of their alma mater.

The evening began with a mass at Holy Trinity Church; the church where we were baptized, received our First Holy Communion, said our weekly Saturday confessions, were confirmed, married, and where some of us have been laid to rest. One of our own, Father Dominick Lenoci Class of ‘78 celebrated the mass. However, the start of the mass was delayed by our coming together and greeting each other for the first time in many, many years. Unrestrained by nuns walking the aisles with clickers, or teachers tapping us upon the shoulder their faces wrinkled with warning grimaces, there was nothing to prevent us from laughing, and beginning the process of catching up.

Perhaps the most touching part of the entire mass was to see Billy Polise, a former altar boy, assume his old role with the precision of a master and assist his former altar boy partner, Father Dominick, in the celebration of the mass.   

Father Dominick later told me that he didn’t prepare a homily; he was so certain that once he looked out among all those familiar faces the words would flow. And they did—with great warmth, feeling, and nostalgia. The way his words reached out and embraced each and every one of us would have made Monsignor Reilly extremely proud.

Afterwards, we made our way down the familiar hill to our little school that lay nestled in the valley of Coytesville. How many times we walked to and from the school and Church for First Friday mass, Stations of the Cross, Holy Days of Obligation and Confession. Admittedly, now we didn’t have to walk single file, and the walk was a lot harder to do in heels than in oxfords, but it was familiar all the same.

As we rounded the corner there stood the school lit up and glowing in the warm spring evening; a beacon welcoming us all back, perhaps for the final time. The thing about Holy Trinity is that, unlike high school and college, we spent the better part of eight years together.  A lifetime, really. And unlike other schools, there was only one class per grade. Each class had well over 30 students, and no aides to assist the teachers.

It was in this building, with these people, where we made our first true friends, where we learned how to laugh, found comfort when we cried, learned how to avoid trouble, and who we could rely upon when trouble came calling our name. This is the place where we first discovered our athletic and academic strengths. This is where we first fell in love; where we first experienced the pain of a broken heart. This is the place where every day we learned that God can be found in every kind act that we performed or was performed upon us. This was the first place we ever had to learn to leave. This is the place where we created the story that would become our life.  

Walking through the familiar front door and into the gym, the room alive with the sound of laughter, seeing so many old friends whom we haven’t seen in years, was memory come alive. And there, across the gym, across the divide of so many years stood Lia Bizarro who flew in from Seattle, one of my dearest, dearest friends who I haven’t seen since 1979 when we graduated. There stood the girl who single-handedly gave me my sense of humor and helped me to become the writer I am providing the opportunity to have my writing continually read out loud when all the notes we surreptitiously passed between us were intercepted by the teacher.

The absence of 32 years, high school, college, marriage, children, achievements, and disappointments dissolved as we returned to our school-girl selves in one powerful moment. Immediately, the old comfortable, familiar conversation and laughter returned. And then to see my other classmates come walking through the door was incredible. Remarkably, mine is just one story that continually repeated itself throughout the night. 

It was so nice to see so many alumni return, some who travelled far to arrive, some with their basketball jackets and uniforms, and many with pictures. It was so nice seeing some of our favorite teachers, Sr. Rose Marie O’Brien, Mr. Higgins, and Mrs. Cook. The reunion committee presented Sr. Rose with a plaque and a bouquet of yellow roses commemorating her many years of extraordinary service not only to the Parish, but to all of her students who stood before her now.   

Just about every class was represented, some astoundingly well-- like my class, Class of ’79. It was such an amazing feeling walking those halls and peering into our old classrooms with our classmates. Even more amazing is how small the school really is. One classmate put it best when he said that from where he stood now, it was like going to an Amish school.

Being together for that one night, the sum of all our yesterdays not coming close to equaling the power of the moment, made us all realize the impact that not only we had upon each other, but that this school which brought us all together in the first place, continues to have on us.

On behalf of the entire alumni of Holy Trinity Elementary School, thank you to Sister Rose Marie O’Brien who was instrumental in orchestrating this reunion, thank you to Father Dominick Lenoci who said such a beautiful mass, and thank you to Father Richard Cabezas, Pastor of Holy Trinity Church, who invited us to use both the Church and the School to make our reunion a perfect one.  Thank you Father, it most certainly was.