Awake: 6:25am Temp 65 sleep 5+42 sunny overnight @ Nicktown, PA.
K & I walk to 10:30am Mass this morning; the right front (3) pews are reserved for the 8th grade school reunion people of the class of 1954. There were 34 of us then, now here, it’s rumored that 18 are attending our 1st ever 8th grade reunion.
After Mass, we all assemble in front of the Fatima Shrine next to the church & have our picture taken almost like it was 53 yrs ago. I haven’t seen some of these people since high school graduation.
After the photo shoot, most of us change clothes & then gather @ the home of Barry & Bonnie in town. They have their garage filled with (4) long tables with chairs & more food than we can consume in a day’s time. The next hr or so was dedicated to getting reacquainted with each other & then lunch. So much good food to select from, it was difficult not to overeat.
Monica & Rita did most of the research required as to where our classmates are living and what they’ve been doing; getting the phone numbers & making the calls, writing the letters, organizing the reunion, etc. they are to be commended on a great job well done.
After lunch, Monica requests that we all grab a folding chair & form a circle in the front yard under the oak tree. One by one, she calls out a name & that person tells the rest of us his or her story of what they’ve done since high school. It was very interesting listening to the various paths each of us took & the spouse chosen in life. This took hrs but for me it was so darn interesting that the time went by too quickly. A fairly close neighbor to our farm in the 50’s, Rita & her siblings, lived a poor childhood. She told a most heart rendering tale of her life; her marriage to an alcoholic husband & the troubles that ensued; her ultimate victory over depression &suicidal thoughts; & the uplifting account of her continued education and ultimate success in life. (3) guiding thoughts that she attributes to her success are: “not my will, but Yours be done,” “the only person you can change is yourself,” & “today is the first day of the rest of your life.”
There was no shortage of good food or good talk during our dinner meal; there was also some good bonding going on. Sometime after 8:00pm, Mary Ann & Randy, Monica & Steve + cousin Cyril asked to see our motorhome; Kathy was helping with the clean up after dinner so I walked back to the motorhome with the inquisitive (5) & gave them a $2.00 tour myself complete with wine. When Kathy returns, we continue our talk time until after 10:00pm, then our 1st….8th grade reunion is over for this yr. It was a special delight to see all of these classmates again; (53) yrs later.
Lights out: 11:16pm
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