Rick Crouthamel:
CLASS OF 1975
William Allen High SchoolClass of 1975
Allentown, PA
Rick's Story
Life
Sometimes your life doesn't turn out the way you thought it would, but all in all I have been very lucky indeed. I have two wonderful kids from my first marriage, which ended around 1992. My kids are now 15 and 13. I was then engaged for a few years. That relationship ended badly in late 1999. So as the old millennium ended, I was 43, single, horrendously overweight, and I honestly thought that I might never date again, much less find another great woman. Fortunately, technology intervened, and the Internet saved my life. It turned out that there were LOTS of women my age who were just out there and looking. I joined an on-line dating service, and discovered my true calling: BS-ing. Ah, but while lots of guys can BS face-to-face, my gift was that I could BS on paper, or in cyberspace as it were. I managed to compose a profile...hey, just like this one!...that somehow was very appealing to women. I jotted down a few observations of mine, such as the fact that we are all the product of failed relationships, and stuff like that. Women LOVE that kind of nonsense. If you don't believe me, walk into any Hallmark store and do a quick headcount. Shoot, Oprah made a gazillion dollars trading on that fact. Added to that, I was literate enough to know the difference between "there" and "their." Don't laugh. I must have read 40 profiles written by guys who gave all the appearance of a 3rd grade education....4th grade, tops. Was it a coincidence that the stupidest sounding guys had the best-looking pics? I don't think so. That's one of those things that prove the existence of God. The end result was that I found myself with all the women I could handle. And I noticed something about many of those women: they had been "good girls" all their lives and when it didn't bring them the happiness they thought it would, they decided to give being "bad" a try. This attitude was of immense benefit to me, to say the least. By and by, I was fortunate enough to bump into a beautiful, wonderful woman and I managed to con her into falling in love with me. The downside was that I had to move away from the Lehigh Valley. Jersey isn't so bad, however. As far as I can tell, New Jersey is loaded with two things: upscale malls and great little Italian restaurants. We have a few decent pubs as well. The problem with where we live is that it's so darn flat. If we didn't have landfills there would be no elevation whatsoever. We're dead meat when the next tsunami hits the Atlantic shore, which according to the Discovery Channel should happen within the next couple of thousand years. What continuously astonishes me about New Jersey is that a pint of Yuengling Lager costs the same as a pint of Heineken, the idea being (I suppose) that they are both imported. Up in Allentown, we drank Yuengling when we didn't have enough money for anything else. Well, I guess I'm just rambling now...but that's not an inaccurate metaphor for my entire life. To be honest, I wouldn't knock rambling. ...Expand for more
It has served me well.
Okay...update 2009.
Well, I'm still in Jersey, still working in Philly, and still married to the same beautiful, delightful woman. At the age of 53 the mileage is starting to show, I'm afraid. But I figure I'm only three of four surgeries away from feeling pretty good. My daughter will be graduating from Allen next Sunday. She was on the yearbook committee and told me of one time when they were looking at "old" pictures (sigh) of yearbooks past. She said all of a sudden her friends started screaming (as only high school girls can) "Madison, come here...this HAS to be your father...he looks JUST like Casey." Poor Casey, was my thought. Here on the home front, we just bought a new puppy named Mollie. She's a VERY small Poo-chon. A combination of a Poodle and a Bischon. At 11 weeks old she's 3 pounds, 5 oz....I've eaten larger cheesesteaks, actually. I tell people we bought her for protection. She's REALLY good at biting. Cute wise, she's a 14. So here I am...still putting one foot in front of the other...just like they taught me at Parris Island...and will continue to do so, God willin' and the creek don't rise. My very best to all my old friends and acquaintances from Allen. You all occupy a very special place in my heart.
School
Funniest? Happiest? Craziest memories? There are far too many to count, I'm afraid. My son is now at Allen and it always amazes me when he says that he can't wait to graduate. I was just the opposite. I just loved going to school, albeit for reasons that were more social in nature then anything else. But so what? That hardly makes me unique. My best friends at Allen are still my best friends today. I have been very, very fortunate in that regard. Samuel Johnson, the great 18th century diarist, wrote, "Friends come and go....they are found and lost. But old friends of 20 years or more are NEVER found...and hardly ever lost." I once recounted that sentiment at a party a couple of years ago and brought the ENTIRE room down. Everyone choked up big time. Truth will do that to you sometimes. Would I do it all over again? That's hard to say. I think I would like to take back any hurt that I ever inflicted on anyone, or at least try. But in the main, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. My question is, would you go back NOW? Would you put your 40-something brain in that 17-18 year-old body and walk around, much like the "Peggy Sue Got Married" movie a few years ago? I think I could do it for a month or so....kind of like a vacation. But I think the lack of freedom would really get on my nerves after a while. It's hard to be grounded when you're 47, not to mention begging your parents for gas money. We're all just sort of swimming in this lake called "time." We didn't chose that condition, but we CAN chose the folks we swim with, and I will always be grateful that I attended Allen....it was a wonderful time and a wonderful place filled with wonderful people.
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