This is a premise quoted by Thomas Wolfe, the North Carolinian author of You Can't Go Home Again. It was the title of one of his books written in the 1930s.

On May 25, six 70-year-old "boys" tried to recapture their "growing up years" by returning to the Bronx. The names of the boys are Ed, Izzy, Joey, Mel, Marvin and Stan. They had all been raised in the East Bronx on either Bryant Avenue or Longfellow Avenue, in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was bounded by the shopping streets, Jennings Street and 174th Street. The subway stations that connected them to the world of Manhattan were Whitlock Avenue and the 174th Street station on the Lexington Avenue line. All six attended Junior High School P.S. 98 on Boston Road adjacent to Crotona Park.

Ed Lewis, a Florida resident, was the architect of the plan. His ambitious idea was to return to his elementary school, P.S. 66 and speak to the present day students. He spoke to the principal and arranged the visit. It would be tantamount to the salmon in the Columbia River swimming upstream to return to their original spawning grounds.

All six septuagenarians met at P.S. 66, signed in for security purposes and were taken on a tour of the school. The halls were clean and shiny and the atmosphere was beneficial to the educational process.

We were ushered around the school by Steve Waltor, a vice principal. He was very helpful and eventually we dispersed into three separate classrooms to speak to the students. All around the halls were murals and signs of an uplifting nature that spoke of good deeds and learning.

As I entered the double class of about 35 students, we were introduced as former gradates of P.S. 66. The children were quite interested in our tales of the 1940s.

Some questions were asked:

• Did you have computers?

• Did you have television?

• How much did candy cost?

• What buildings did you live in?

• Has the neighborhood changed a lot?

Some of the things I spoke about were:

• I asked "What was inflation?" in regard to the question of the price of candy. One student said, "Inflation is when you blew up a basketball." "That was a pretty good answer." I replied.

• I told of our dress code in those days:

Boys - white shirt and tie.

Girls - White blouse and a skirt.

I found one boy who conformed to our old dress code.

• I also gave the recipe for making an "Egg Cream," a drink none of them were familiar with.

Next, we entered the well-stocked library and spoke to another group. They were all keenly excited by our presence and they were friendly and interested.

Soon it was time to leave and Steve walked out with us.

It was a pleasure to see a school with 8-, 9-, and 10-year-olds in an atmosphere of learning and good manners.

The six of us then scooted over to Arthur Avenue for lunch.

"You Can Go Home Again," but be ready for a lot of subtle changes.