Two years of planning a dream emerged into one fantastic May 14 weekend for the 50+1 reunion for the NFA class of 1971. There was an incredible breakfast, campus tour and a sunny party at Salem Herb Farm with Bob Straub and his band Melaena.

The planning committee consisted of Ernie Covino, Abby Israelite Dolliver, Cindy Schmidt Crocicchia, Kate Hnatiuk Johnson and Mike Bogdanski, with a special thanks to Linda Ververis. I am sure there were many others who helped in this endeavor, and the class of 1971 will always be grateful.

In his novel “You Can’t Go Home Again,” Thomas Wolfe has a recurring theme. If you try to return to a place from the past, it will not be the same as you remembered. Wolfe says you can never return to your childhood once you have passed the sacred rite of passage. After experiencing strife and conflict in the world as an adult, no one can ever look at childhood the same, which appeared everlasting, yet was actually evanescent and evolving all the time.

Nevertheless, after touring the NFA campus that I and my classmates had roamed for four years, I am not quite sure this is true. NFA was exactly as I remembered, as steadfast as a beacon of light. A light I had not appreciated when I was living in its reflection.

Age and wisdom had changed my perspective for the better and made me appreciate what I had missed through the eyes of youth.

The small crowds of senior students happily passed through buildings that were once bittersweet memories. When we walked into the cafeteria, I recalled the pain of trying to find a friend to have lunch with, and most of the time I was not successful. As a teenager, I recalled thinking that everyone had someone except for me, not realizing so many others were in the same boat.

My mind brought me back to the images of the hard-working cafeteria ladies with hair tied in bandannas who gave so much and worked so hard. On a humorous note, I recalled English teacher Alan K. Driscoll saying he had to make sure he made it down to lunch early before the football players devoured everything in sight.

We passed the space where our beloved beech tree once stood since 1854. Where so many of us had taken refuge, and perhaps stolen a kiss or two underneath its long weeping branches.

It was cut down in 2012 when Dave Stone, an arborist with Linden Tree Service, removed the limbs from the 160-year-old tree. Stone, who had been caring for the tree for more than 10 years, said it broke his heart to have to cut it down due to disease and safety concerns.

“It’s the most sentimental tree I’ve ever had to take down,” he said. And even though the tree is gone, it is still remembered.

The wood was saved and built into benches by artist Dave Meiklum, donated by the class of 1967. NFA saved the wood from the tree, with the intention to use it in future projects. The school created the Beech Tree Lounge in the Latham Science & Information Center which features a life-size painting of the tree, and circular benches made out of the tree’s wood.

We stopped along the tour and took group photos. I was in the same group as Bruce and Betty Adams, Vivian Lizotte, Robert and Paula Angelopoulos, Linda Ververis and a few others. The remarkable feeling hit us when we all realized we belonged here together, to this great school, to this miracle of life that allowed us to pass this way again.

Sadly, many of our beloved classmates had already crossed into the next life. And even though many of us did not recognize each other, we discovered that we may not look the same, but the heart never changes.

We peeked into the old library. The light switch did not turn on, and the semi-darkness made the room appear misty and alive with memories of long ago.

I recalled as a senior, the warm June morning I came to return a book and met Jodi Rajotte walking out of the library. Needless to say, he convinced me and a friend to cut school that day. We went to Ocean Beach Park in New London and worried the whole time the truant officer would find us. He never did.

You can go home again. The deciding factor depends on where you go. After 51 years, nothing had changed for me at NFA. Even though it has been upgraded with changes and technology and so much more, in my heart it remains the same.

I know I had some sad and lonely days at school, yet they no longer seem important. I am one of the lucky ones to live long enough to return, and in that realization, I am grateful and humble for being given the privilege of attending such a magnificent school.

Concetta Falcone-Codding is the author of “The Lonely Nest.” Email her at sarah_falcone@yahoo.com.