It's true that I've been called geeky names and made fun of for my preteen pimples. I've had my share of 10 minutes on the fence at recess and was left out of a lot of field trip pictures because I have a shy bladder in the travel buses and most people take pictures outside of the bus at arrival. (I was most likely sprinting to a bathroom).
However, Old Forge was my start. I was born in Scranton, like most people in Old Forge, and raised in Old Forge. Four generations of the Allegrucci family were from Old Forge, my first friends were from Old Forge, my first real crush was from Old Forge, my last crush was from Old Forge, my first night on the town was in Old Forge, and my life was molded and taped up in this little pizza town.
Everyone from this town has imperfections and because of that it makes us terribly unique. The weird thing...we all love each other for it.
Our school had such a small graduating class that even our cliques were confused as to where they belong. Don't most people in high school have somewhere they fit in? Drama kids, jocks, sexual active band geeks, art freaks, goths? Nope not here.
We all love and hate each other equally. Of course there are groups but unlike other high school those groups never stay in place. Five people will leave and go to a different group, eight people will form a new group, and some people are just wandering around in the fourth quarter still trying to figure out their locker combination after a long weekend.
But in a weird way because we don't belong anywhere it makes us belong. As our 2014 graduating president said, "Old Forge is the island of misfit toys."
It's the truth. We are all here so busy laughing, crying, loving, and hating that we don't even realize that time is passing until our name is called on stage to receive our diploma and even then we're still confused as to where we're supposed to pose for pictures or if dad will disapprove the planned hip thrust/middle finger picture while walking out.
In college you don't have school bells, planned lunch, eye check-ups, and hall passes. You can walk out of class and never come back and the professor wouldn't even bat an eye. Back home in Old Forge we can talk to our friends in between the bells, giggle about true loves and break-ups at lunch, and laugh about that one time the substitute teacher sat on the two-legged desk and fell flat on his rear end. FAMILY. We were family, and we are family.
Our system was so unsystematic that it crashed and became a new system. Our loves were so strong that they buried and sunk to the bottom of our hearts unable to ever escape. Our late nights along the railroads tracks and cruising through the streets of the neighboring town just to waste the night away gave us our youth. Our friends were our family and our family was our pride.
No one could ever say they didn't know you were friends or lovers with someone because one conversation and one kiss would be heard throughout the entire school. In an ironic way this would either make us closer with someone in one way or any other.
The tradition in Old Forge is strong. Seniors at the front of the student section and freshman at the back. The bowling ball will be rolling down that hallway until the OFHS is no more. The football players will always huddle together at the prep alleys and howl their battle cries to echoe through the downstairs hall ways. Someone will always be stealing a teacher's chair and rolling it down the hallway with the help of a friend and someone will always be sitting in the principals extremely small office waiting to get busted for more than three tardies or throwing a doughnut in the toilet and clogging it beyond repair.
People come and go in Old Forge but no matter who you are or what you do you will always have your footprint engraved on our soil and because of that we are all Old Forge bound. Don't fight it! Welcome to the family, there is always an open seat.
