And While We're At It...

Mrs. Wilder's 4th Grade Class, 1971
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Back in the days in March 2005 when my childhood friend known here as The Axeman shed this mortal coil I asked my parents if they would go through the old family photo albums and send me all of the pictures they had of The Axeman. His wife had written to all of their friends asking for as many photos of him as possible to be put into a book for their children to keep.

Part of the idea was to have photos as they remembered him. Part of the idea was to have photos of him as they never knew him so they could better understand their father as a person, as a child, as a teenager, as a young adult, and understand that he was just as human and struggled with all of the same worldly problems they struggle with as well.

My folks sent down a handful of images, including three class pictures. This one is from 1971 and is of my fourth grade class. It was the year I met The Axeman and, as it turns out, for some reason he isn't in this picture.

Looking at it now I'm surprised at how few white males there were in the class. It wasn't anything that I thought about at the time -- my primary complaint was that I wasn't with my friends Alex and amlaped.

Still, it shouldn't be all that difficult to pick me out of the crowd.

(hint: As my friend JiveTalkingRobot just pointed out, I was one of those from Star Trek who went down with the landing party and didn't come back up)

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