Geneva High School - Seneca Saga Yearbook (Geneva, NY)

Page 9 text:

Spring, 1970 In memory of our friend and classmate, Gary Michaels, who died August 9, 1970, in an air crash while visiting Peru as an International Fellowship Exchange Student. It wasn't too long ago, that day. It was a day of sadness for us. It was a nice day— not beautiful— just nice. The sun was shining just enough and it had been raining. It was about the beginning of fall. The wind was blowing. There was this tree, a tree which had been there all our lives. You know how there are some things you just take for granted. Like your mother and father and friends for example— they just never seem to change. Yet somehow this tree seemed different that day. It probably wasn't really any different— they say people see things through different eyes at different times. It is hard to remember now what made the tree seem different. It was a little bigger than last noticed, but that wasn't it. The leaves were yellow, but most of the other trees looked that way too. The wind was making the top branches move— perhaps that was it. The tree seemed like people— people we know. People are swayed all the time as the tree is swayed. Everyday things happen that sway and shake people. People lose their leaves too. They lose friends and people they love and all those kinds of things that make them beautiful people. But they get new leaves too. They make new friends and love more people, becoming beautiful again without forgetting the old beauty. Even as the wind was blowing, the bottom of the tree didn't move at all. People are like that too. They have roots that aren't moved even by a storm. People must have roots, just as surely as the tree must. 5 It wasn't too long ago, that day. It was a day of sadness for us, but it was a nice day.