By Cokie Roberts and Steven V. Roberts

Here’s what Bayonne, N.J., was like when Steve graduated from the eighth grade at No. 3 School in 1956. He lived two blocks from the school, in the same house his mom had grown up in, a house built by his grandfather with his own hands.

His parents both attended classes at No. 3, in the early ‘30s when it was still a high school. And they lived a block apart when they met on his mom’s 17th birthday, 70 years ago last winter.

Occupying a narrow neck of land, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Bayonne was a town of strong neighborhoods, strong families, strong ties to tribes and traditions. People knew who they were and where they were from. Steve can count on one hand the classmates who arrived or left during his entire tenure at No. 3. A woman who moved here during 7th grade is still known as “the new girl.”

As the Class of 1956 approached its 50th anniversary, one member, Phyllis Wasserman Gorelick, started raising money for a gift to the school. Checks poured in, and so did sentiment. Wouldn’t it be great to see each other, and not just exchange e–mails?