It seems like only yesterday that I was attending 5- and 10-year reunions, and I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to attend a 50th reunion…Are those people still capable of even walking around on their own? Well, somehow, here I am already.
I flew to Scranton, PA (yes, the home of President Joe Biden and “The Office”) to attend my 50th high school reunion at Abington Heights High School (AHHS) in Clarks Summit, PA, a suburb of Scranton.
Every time I go back to Clarks Summit it puts me in a very self reflective mood, thinking about my thoughts and plans from the ages of 14 to 18. It really is a time when I first started to think about my values, purpose, and what really mattered. Interesting to me that my perspective on these topics has remained very consistent. I think this is in large part a result of my strong family background and religious faith. Having an uncle as a priest also helped to solidify my views. And yes, that strikingly handsome young man is me😉
When I first moved to Clarks Summit in 1969, I attended the 8th grade at Our Lady of Peace (OLP) Catholic School. Many of my classmates from OLP went on to AHHS and attended the reunion this weekend. Here’s a few of us at the reunion:
Several of us took a tour of the AHHS facility, which is now twice as large as when we were students, and we also attended a Abington Heights Comets football game — with the same difficult to read scoreboard as 50 years ago!🤣
On a more serious note, we had a wonderful informal memorial service yesterday morning in a park celebrating the lives of the 34 classmates that have passed away since our graduation in 1973. May the Lord be always with them.
One last note: I gave a short talk at the closing dinner and read the poem that always helps me keep things in perspective as to what really matters in life — what you do with “your dash.” The poem is entitled “The Dash” and was authored by Linda Ellis. The key, I believe, is to make the best of every day you are given on this earth (as I mentioned up front, reunions definitely put me in a very self reflective mood). 🤔
