By Michael J. Whelan
Next Friday the 28 marks the beginning of my 50 year high school class reunion. Wow! Fifty years!
The Trinity High School class of 1965 was the largest graduating class in the history of the school, before or since. We were the cutting edge of the post-war baby boomers. There were about one hundred twenty of us, if memory serves me.
Since then, about ten or eleven of our classmates have passed away, and about half of the remaining ones are coming to the reunion, which will be the biggest turnout we’ve ever had, fittingly enough.
I did a Forum about reunions before, I think after our fortieth, at which time I said that the time goes by all too fast and invariably we all part ways wishing we’d had more time to visit with old friends we haven’t seen in years.
I’m sure we’ll all feel the same way both during and after this coming one, and I have only one additional comment to make about it.
I’m sure we’ve all heard the old Scriptural saying, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place.” It is contained in the Gospel of Mark and is spoken by Jesus Christ in response to his own fellow villagers being astonished that he, the mere son of a carpenter, could now have so much wisdom when he spoke in the synagogue. In other words, people who had “known him when” couldn’t believe he made something of himself. They instead put him in a box and labeled him, so to speak, based on what they remembered of him from years earlier.
Putting this in the context of our reunion, I hope that all of us greet each other as what we are now, fifty years older, and hopefully, fifty years wiser and more mature.
Michael J. Whelan has been a licensed practicing attorney for over 33 years. He also serves as an arbitrator in the 11th Judicial Circuit Mandatory Arbitration program. In addition, he is presently the president of the board of directors of his homeowners association, and is also a member of the board of directors of The Old House Society. He and his wife of thirty-one plus years, Cheryl Whelan, live in Bloomington. He and Cheryl enjoy exercising, reading, and being close to family and friends.
The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Cumulus Media, Inc.
