Sentimental Sunday - A day late

SHS Class of 1979

In addition to this past week being Thanksgiving, it was also a chance for the Shelby High School Class of 1979 to get together once again. This obviously was our 30 year reunion.

Normally, I don’t get too sentimental about these things but this year I found myself being overly emotional about it. As much as I hunt for elusive ancestors, the summation my life is more than biological relations and these folks who I came of age with are just as much family as my biological family.

It seems like a lifetime ago that we walked the hallowed halls of our High School. We’ve witnessed a lot in our lifetime, the last bit of segregated schools in our area, the Vietnam Conflict (even though most of us were just kids at the time), man walking on the moon, and the lists goes on.

It’s hard to believe that nearly 10% of our class is already gone. The striking thing is that majority were African-American. Most died of natural causes, cancer, but some lives came to a tragic / violent end at the hand of another.

There were those who were with us a spirit but couldn’t be with us physically because their body’s are failing / turning on them and they struggle to survive one more day.

There were those I knew all my life and others I met along the way as I matriculated through elementary, junior high and then high school. 30 years later, there were faces I recognized right off the bat and faces I had no clue sometimes even after they told me who they were.

Some asked about my dad, who taught Driver’s Education at the high school, and some about my mother, who worked with Girl Scouts for years and now serves on the Board of Elections. But mostly, we just got caught up on where everyone was and what they were doing now.

In closing today’s post I just want to say that I’m thankful

1. For being granted one more day, year, etc.

2. For the community that helped shape me in addition to my parents

3. For friends old, new, and those that I’ve yet to meet.