Jack’s Winning Words 6/30/16
“It’s no use to go back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”  (From Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)  Are you one of those persons who likes/dislikes going to high school reunions?  I went to mine last year, and it was really fun.  I had my yearbook, and it was interesting to see how time has had a way of changing us.  Maybe it’s because of e-mail and the aging process, but friendships seemed to have deepened.  It was a Great Generation.    ;-)  Jack

FROM TARMART REV:  Not really into HS reunions . . . never been to one to compare any difference of opinion . . . wouldn't miss though, a meeting with you at Panera's, any time it was possible. ====JACK:  Several of my classmates are Winning Words friends, so that was one point of conversation.  Not so much talk about what was...more about what is.

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  i'm glad you went because i got to meet you!====JACK:  There's wasn't enough time to talk...but the cake was good.

FROM OPTIART:  I continue to find your winning words helpful.  And from time to time, I feel a need to tell you so.====JACK:  I always enjoy an encouraging word.  Thanks!

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  I used to go to my high school reunions.  Now Harper Woods has joint reunions for all classes and we don't go anymore.  Our high school was extremely small... Less than 100 in most of the graduating classes.====JACK:  Our class, even now, provides two scholarships of $1000 each to current students of our high school...each time we have a reunion.

FROM WATERFORD JAN:  A 1953 classmate and I, of a high school in western Michigan, both live in eastern Michigan and meet frequently to drive over and join some fellow classmates for lunch.
We do some reminiscing, but talk mostly about current happenings, including deaths and ailments, grandkids, and what we do to keep life meaningful.  We are grateful for having grown up when we did--definitely an easier time for most parents than now. The good nature of the group makes our trip enjoyable, and yes, we do a little shopping before or after lunch.====JACK:  If I lived closer to my hometown I'd go to the monthly luncheons that some classmates organize. 

FROM GUSTIE MARLYS: I just went to mine and it was fantastic.  There were only 8 of 30 of the living classmates who could not come for one reason or another.  We had a graduating class of 53.  We had such a good time.  Got kicked out of the restaurant at 9 pm!  (They let us stay an hour after closing time!  ha!)====JACK:  We always sing our school Fight Song when we get together.  Do you do that?  Do you remember yours?

FROM RJP IN NAPLES:  It was great seeing you last Sunday and it felt like I was home again to be in our church.  Glad you could go to your reunion last year. How was Abe, Grant, Lee, Douglas and the rest of the gang??????====JACK:  There aren't many left who can say that they graduated from high school when the Civil War ended.  Oops!  I meant World War 2.

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  The reunion was great.  But I have a different perspective.  We have all aged through the years, but it seems that everyone I met still had the same outlook on life. ====JACK:  Even with the aging process, I was able to see the young faces disguised by the older faces.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  As I read once, " A melancholy lesson of advancing years, is the realization that you can't make old friends!"  I loved every class reunion, which have been held every five years since we graduated in '48, but now all the wonderful people who planned them seem to be gone, so who knows if we'll ever have another?  It does seem with the years, that old lines dividing classmates are erased, and everyone is so happy to see everyone else, and "catch up" on the years. Ours were aways 3 days, so we had lots of time to share, and activities like golf and boat rides up the river, and tours of the old school, (now an aprt. building!) etc/ culminating with a very nice dinner dance. Always fun. I just met one of my old classmates in San Francisco last week to have lunch and a good chat, while vacationing there. We certainly are different people in our old age, as compared to sweet youth, but the ties are strong, still!====JACK:  I have come to make new friends at the reunions.  In high school they were just faces.  Time has a way of polishing personalities.

FROM SBP IN FLORIDA:  Lewis Carrol had it right In my opinion, the Master sculptor is in the process of molding me each day. And, though the format remains pretty much the same, He is always working on one new touch after another. Each new day seems to generate some design modification for me. And, YES!, we were, are, will be known as the Greatest Generation. Thanks to God's plans for us.====JACK:  One of the creative "sights" at the reunion was the picture of you, beside the Florida pool, lifting a toast to the class.