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David Merrick (1970)
Hello to all of my fellow classmates, the Vikings of 1970:
I would like to congratulate my fellow Pacific High School class of 1970 graduates who have made the 52 year journey to our 50th Class Reunion, if not literally by your presence but certianly, as with I, in our hearts. Do you remember comments made by our teachers and staff that there was an energy and a spirit to our class of 1970 that was unique and individual? Everyone would like to believe their high school class was more robust and dynamic than others. But I have speciifc memories of comments made by surprised and impressed Pacific High School staff that, in their opinion, our class literally was..and IS!
I was not a member of the "movers and shakers" [to use a phrase unique to our math teacher, Mr. Gustafson] of our class, and did not have a seat, in our fascinating round cafeteria, with the elite. But at no time did I feel excluded from our collective class spirit. And I was certainly not excluded as a target of that food fight that broke out there in our senior year!
At our 40th reunion a number of our fellow classmates approached me with comments based on a similar theme: "I didn't hang out with you at school, David, but somehow, I have a very posiitve memory of you."
My response is simple: 'The reason for that social separation is that we had a dynamic difference. While you were dealing with the conflicts and challenges of losing your virginity, I was facing the conflicts and challenges of keeping you from realizing I'm a q*eer!"
Indeed, it wasn't until I was invited to and did convert to Catholic in the 1990's, the faith of my late mother, and a number of my family members and friends that I was brought together with my mother and began discussing my being gay more openly. [I had been "out" to everyone else but my mom as far back as 1974 when I began paying the blistering cost of $25 per hour, out of pocket, to begin talking, for the first time, with a psychiatrist in San Leandro. Working on my own degree in psychology at San Jose stae, I thought it best to rid my "mental attic" of some "cobwebs" before I began playing with the minds of others.]
In my 40's, when I asked mom "How far back did you suspect I am gay?" mom shocked me by answering as far back as high school. Mothers just have an "uncanny" way of knowing. Even moreso, I was stunned that my mom, was, without my being aware, friends with the mother of another one of our gay classmates. A classmate I, myself, had no idea was gay!
Not discussing this with mom until I was in my 40's, mom told me that as far back as 1970 when the two of us classmates would have been 18, she and his other mother would talk openly on the phone about their gay sons a full THREEE DECADES before I, myself, was even infomed that this other classmate was gay!
Has anyone else, here, over the years, learned that our personal lives as teenagers were not at all steallth? That mom and dad knew a heck of a lot more about us than we thought? And, indeed, have those of us that became parents found ourselves not sharing with our own children all that we have known about them?
[Although I was not meant to be in a relationship or appreciate children of my own, I speak collectively of "our children" from the perspctive of a fellow classmate and a fellow baby boomer. God did not intend for me to be OF your world, but he has blessed me with family, friends and companions that have made me feel very much welcome IN your world.]
Okay, so my experiement with bonding with my fellow Vikings came to a grinding halt at our "Senior Skate" when my weak ankles dictated I stay off the to the side and just watch those of you who could glide and sllide over the ice.
Several years ago I developed a temporary sinus condition that eroded my hearing. It's the same as when you have a head cold or the flu. As it was a sinus condition, not neurological, I put off seeking assistance and simply worked around it, chucking down antihistamines assuming the sinus congestionand pressure would go away on its own Three years later that "temporary" condition, along with necessary delays for an in person meeting for hearing tests [due to Covid-19] that will undoubtedly result in prescription for hearing, aids with my audiologist, I find myself sometimes bereft of about 80% [maybe only about 50% on a good day] of my hearing.
I will most likely not be able to get to meet with my audiologist until the first week of June, for a formal diagnosis and treatment for what I now know is called "sinusitis" and /or hearign aids. As a result I absolutely cannot imagine attending our 50th class reunion virtually unable to hear. Sad that I will have recovered from that with hearing aids only two months after the fact, but for those of us who have lost hearing, gradually or in my case so abruptly I have not had time to adapt or devise a plan fo accomodating that, the inability to hear properly is not just pragamtic but it can be both humiiiating and embarassing too.
So I will not be with you in June in person, but I will be there in spirit. The spirit of a Viking. And in the mean time I will be psyching myself up for our 75th classs reunion [!?!]
In the mean time I will leave you with some personal family trivia. In 1965 my father founded "Colin C. Merrick & Comany," a tool and die company working out of 1681 Abram Court. Abram Court is just north of Marina Blvd and the company is still next to the 94577 post office. Upon my father's unexpectd passing in 1976 my mother and I virtually threw the business at my brother who was eager to take over the business, and who still runs the comapny at the same address.
That means both 1681 Abram Court and the telephone number 351-2374 haas been continually in the Merrick family for over 57 years! It's amazing how this has led to personal "mini reunnions," after people discover that "The Shop" as we have always called it, is still there today . And because of an association with the sister-in-law of our classmate, the late Joan Bailey, it has baffled people who stop by "The Shop" and find that Joan's nephew, Ian Bailey is "holding down the fort" of Colin C. Merrick Company" when my brother is traveling on business! Joan Bailey's nephew, Ian Bailey, in charge of "Colin C. MERRICK Comany?" What a mind warp for some.
A musician, drummer and souind engineer, this is Ian's "day job."
[When my father passed, my brother, Paul had to rename the company without the "&," under the law. After the passing of my dad, and the passing of the company to my broither, the law dictated that an "&" as misleading that "Colin C. Merrick" was still running it. . So my brothe, by law, had to rename the company without the "& Comany" under the guidelines of the company that wasnow run under a fictitious name. I remember that well. That was very difficult for my brother who was very cllose to my father.]
A REAL double take on that one, that Ian Bailey is now periodically in charge of "The Shop" So with one call you might contact the Bailey family or The Merrick's. If you have the ambition to do so, please do
It is with the sincerest of affection and dedication i wish that all of you who can attend our reunion and those of you who can't not only the the same health with which I have been blessed, but the warm and fuzzy memories that you, my classmates, have provided for me.
Dave Merrick
ddmsfsocial@gmail.com
[415] 866-6592
150 9th Street #310 94103 [San Francisco near City Hall]
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