Paul Desroches:  

I showed up at St. Thomas Aquinas halfway thru junior year 1969, and unfortunately didn't get to know too many souls very well.....I felt readily accepted at Aquinas, making the transition into a new school easier than I had feared. Thank you all for that. I recall several of you, but I left with the feeling that I needed more time to get to know more of you just a bit better. I couldn't really join in extra curricular activities, since I was paying my own way at the time, and had to put in quite a few hours at work in a little bakery in Hartford that offered me a decent wage at the time. I was somewhat of a reticent person with regard to my bravery with the opposite sex, and lost any opportunity to cultivate more than just casual friendships. I never made it to any sports event, nor did I avail myself of the opportunity to go to prom either of the two chances that I had, so again I lost out on that one as well. I came to Aquinas knowing John Brandewie and Mike Ferrigno, but actually didn't hang much with them after arriving....guess I was not too "politically astute" to offer much to those intellectual political banters that seemed to consume their interests. My good friend Peter Strattner was the friend that I had some good times with, like playing hooky one day to go to the shore with Steve Cooney, drinking beer and discussing those unanswerable queries that all adolescents wrestle with. Pete stood as best man for bride #1 in 1972, (way too young), with whom I helped create two sons, now 36 and 34 yrs old. I discovered my ineptitude for the married state with two failed attempts, but the third time is working out OK, now nearly 18 years in the making. I had a hard crush for Diane Carrier which I failed to make known, and with whom my good buddy Peter showed me how by making her his main squeeze for a good while. What are friends for, eh? I've been in the Richmond, VA vicinity since 1975, so my sons are southern born and bred. I've earned a BS in English/Sociology from VCU in Richmond, but didn't employ whatever know how that provided directly into employment opportunities. Rather I delved into things that required arts/crafts skill sets, managing a startup sign company, then working up to an Engineering VP for a manufacturing company that made store fixtures and displays, employing around 500 folks split between Richmond, St. Louis, and Toronto. Spent over twenty years doing that, then left voluntarily to do photography, videography & editing. I recall during junior year that Elizabeth Gibeau and her mom would stop for my outstretched thumb pretty regularly on the way school before I finally earned enough to get my blue 57 chevy. Seem to recall she broke her leg somewhere along the way there. She was a pretty young woman with reddish brown hair as I recall, but sweet and kind as could be, and smart, just like many others were in my class. I recall the identical triplets, though didn't share any classes with them, the Kulas brothers I believe they were, figured they would end up at Nasa or the like, gifted as they indeed were. I fondly remember Father Quinn, who allowed me to matriculate with you guys, ....he was a fine man with sound judgemental capacity, as I recall. There are many more that I recall, so many pretty gals that I was just too inhibited to try to know more deeply, which I lump into the great cask of " things I regret" over those couple of years. I would like to simply thank everyone in the class of '70 for receiving me into your midst so graciously, making me feel accepted. Hopefully I provided an ounce or two of humor that I tried to inject into the the daily grind. It's funny, isn't it?? ....how time seems to be a dimension that we can travel in our mind to clearly see, smell, feel, the sensations that permeated our senses so many moons ago. It was a pleasant experience for me, in every way, and I regret that I didn't try to take someone to either of the two proms that I missed out on, ......I would love to try it over again, wouldn't you?? Rereading this rather "too long" story above I realized I didn't say anything about the good folks at South Catholic HS, where I put in my first 2.5 years!! I would have graduated there ha...Expand for more