Total Eclipse of the Sun

Things have been ramping up in Rochester, NY for a while now. The total solar eclipse is less than one week away. Our area will have 2 hours and 26 minutes total eclipse time, with 3 minutes and 42.5 seconds of totality. In all honesty, I've been ignoring the event for quite some time. I've been through several partial eclipses and, until just recently, I figured I would be shut up in a room with ten children, unable to experience the phenomenon. I knew I wasn't going to be taking the day off, so I put it out of my mind.

... Let's rewind the clock 46 1/2 years...

Okay, it's the fall of 1978 now. I am a 14 year old high school freshman sitting in my Earth Science class. The teacher is new to the district this year. He is young, just 22 years old, handsome, and very tall. It is said that he wears canoes on his feet rather than shoes. His foot is a size 17, but I digress... On this particular day he is handing out a worksheet titled "Total Solar Eclipses From 1952 through 2030." There is one to which he wants us to pay particularly close attention. It is 46 years in the future and is expected to pass directly over Buffalo, NY. He tells us we will be reuniting in Buffalo for this once in a lifetime event on April 8, 2024 and he wants us to remember this.

I have to admit, I do not have a clear memory of this day in 1978. It was a very long time ago, over 3 of my then 14 year long lifetimes, but there is a tiny ember of a memory, a very faint glow. A lot has happened between then and now.

...

Fast forward to March 23, 2024... I am sitting at the table in my son's Florida house. I am looking at my computer, and as is my every so often custom, I decide to check out the obituary notices in my hometown newspaper. Somehow, rather than going directly to the death notices (Yes, I am rather morbid.), I connect myself with the front page instead. Looking back at me is a picture with a headline that reads,

"50 years ago, Webster teacher asked pupils to reunite for 2024 eclipse. His moment is here"

Interested, because I was a Webster student 50 years ago, I begin to read and find myself suddenly transported back in time. I instantly have a renewed interest in the eclipse that is now closing schools and shuttering area businesses for the day. There on the screen is an aged version of my former Earth Science teacher. I begin to poke around online. I look up his Facebook account, I message friends to inquire as to whether they have been invited. I begin to follow the story a bit more closely. I even ask if I can come to his party. His answer, "Absolutely! Please attend."

This past weekend a new request showed up on Mr. Moriarty's Facebook. NBC Nightly News was coming to interview him, part of Lester Holt's team, and he was looking for former students to attend. Could we bring old yearbooks or anything else from those 9th grade years? I decided to go out on a limb and text my boss to see if there was any way I could get out of work in time to attend. She messaged me back a few minutes later and said yes! That's when I got out my old yearbook and popped it into my car. I wanted to make sure I had it along on Monday afternoon. I wanted to know what kind of grades I received that year and looked for old report cards, but so far I haven't found them.

I arrived at Mr. Moriarty's house yesterday afternoon in time for the news team to film me walking up his driveway, with him coming out to meet me. (Yeah, it was a little bit staged. Ha ha!) Inside I met the father of a coworker (I was wearing my work sweatshirt.), lots of former Earth Science students from various years, and of course, Mrs. Moriarty, who had been my study hall teacher way back in 1978-79. 

(This is getting to be a lengthy post...)

There were interviews, pictures by the news team, and lots of sharing with former classmates. There were just three "vintage" students, as Hallie Jackson referred to Barb, Ric, and me. I don't watch the news much so I wouldn't have known her if not for others who said, "There she is!" when she came out the back door of the house. She seemed like a normal, regular person, and was very nice. I couldn't be star struck because I hardly knew I should be. Honestly, I mostly live under a rock. LOL!

It was a very fun couple of hours. Like Mr. Moriarty said, "It isn't about the eclipse anymore. It's about the people. It's about the connections." I am very much looking forward to the actual event on Monday, April 8, 2024, the one Mr. Moriarty was so looking forward to back in 1978 when he was a brand new teacher and we were 14 year old Earth Science students.

PS. We're not just vintage, we're first class.

From Mr. Moriarty- "Hi Friends, the interview from NBC Nightly News with Hallie Jackson will air on Sunday, April 7 at 6:30. I believe the spot will be near the end of the program."