Reunion time!

Remember the old camp song "Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold." How true! Over the years we have been blessed with multitudes of new friends..but this is a blog about the old ones! In 1955, I graduated from Pierre High School in Pierre SD. Three of us went on to the University of South Dakota and pledged our sorority together. I moved from South Dakota in the spring of 1957, and did not return for any of our high school reunions (including the 50th, which unfortunately was held just as Jerry was beginning his ministry in Wichita, so we could not get away.) All that changed this past weekend!!! Seven of us gathered in Yankton SD for a Spring Fling weekend at Mary Ellen's townhouse--two came from Pierre; and the others gathered from St. Paul MN, Sioux Falls SD, Oklahoma City, and Wichita. It was a marvelous weekend - the conversation was non-stop, as we caught up on each other's lives over the past fifty years (HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?), shared about our families, our jobs, our journeys, caught up on other classmates, and mostly played "Remember when..." and off we would go. It was interesting to me that my memory had to be jogged to bring some things back into focus. There is only one of you reading my blog who was a part of my life back then (unless my brother should happen to be reading it, which isn't likely!)..and our life has been such an exciting adventure filled with countless numbers of dear and special people in our five pastorates that sometimes I found I had to do some serious digging to pull up any recollections! (It wouldn't be my age, would it?) I know this photo is meaningless to you - but at least you could glance at it and say "why, none of you has changed one bit!" "Are you sure its been fifty years?" It was interesting to me that six of us were married to the same husbands all our lives...the 7th one has been married 25 years to her second husband...and two of the group were widowed. One was really a special reunion for me, because our families were close friends all during high school (and our parents' friendship went well beyond those days, as they used to get together when they wintered in the Scottsdale area in later years.) So - the reunion was marvelous, and I am so glad I attended. Further, the drive from Wichita to Yankton, which is straight up US 81, is a beautiful drive and a great road - the scenery was just magnificent. I look forward to Jerry and me making that trip in our RV one of these days. Also, Yankton College was a Congregational school that I seriously considered attending - and while it has gone the way of many small liberal-arts colleges and closed, the campus NEVER looked better as it is part of the SD Penal system! The grounds and buildings are immaculate! Our children are all out-and-about on adventures this week. Jo and Scott are back in their old stomping grounds of Chicago to celebrate Scott's Grandmother's 100 birthday. When Jo and Scott were married, the reception was held in Gram's huge backyard of her family home-a very special lady. Jo will also turn 41 on the same day, and they have tickets for a Cubs game on Friday, so life is good. Carla is at our beautiful conference grounds in Montreat NC attending the Annual Recreation Workshop (ARW) which has a great reputation and has been going on for many many years--I have some wonderful memories of attending ARW when I was in seminary. So - all my love to those of you who qualify as silver and/or gold friends!