TIME WARP

To attend a reunion or not?  Why do we go? Just to have fun and to reconnect!

Southwest High School

I spent a great deal of time with some of these people; my formative years through elementary school, junior high and then through high school.  I learned who I wanted to be and who I did not want to be. I learned a lot about myself while I was being educated through the school system. I had fun with my friends back then and I have had fun with the reunion committee these days.

I'm not the person I was as a child and teen. But, I'm also not the person I'm going to be as I get much older. However, it has been interesting to see who I have become so I would love to see who my classmates have become too.

Back then, I was so shy; I had zero self-confidence. That has changed a little.  Sometimes I have confidence, but I am still quite shy in a large group or until I get to know you.

The reunion committee members have talked about the regrets we have in the way we dealt with a classmate. I would like to think that I was a friend and not a tormentor. I know in my elementary school years I wasn’t as kind as I should have been. Lesson learned.

In school, I had my first crush and my first heartbreak. I learned who I could trust, who I wanted to hang with and who wanted to hang with me. I experimented with a few things, which would be a big surprise to some people today. I had so many questions when I graduated. I still do not have the answers. 

I look at my yearbook and some of the things my friends wrote. Oh, my!  What some people wrote in my yearbook! Was I actually there? I forgot I used to work in the office at school. How could I forget that? I forgot faces that went with the names and the names with faces until I looked at the yearbook. 

Fun, wet, field trip. Sue didn't think it was so fun, did she?
Where are you Sue Hill Plaxco?

Some foggy memories of fun times I shared with some of my classmates are coming back into view. Little flickers come to mind. I hope that I can share some happy memories with my classmates when we get together at the Southwest High School class of 1974 reunion!

Here's the link for all the details. If you haven't signed up to attend, it's not too late!

http://sw74reunion.com

A Book in My Pantry

I have been blessed to learn first hand the power of teaching a child to read. It is a life-changing event that many Americans take for granted. Statistics indicate that the more education our children have the higher their life income will be while reducing the likelyhood they will participate in illegal activities. Greg Mortenson and his organization work to stop war by building schools. The pen is truely mightier than the sword!

In Stones Into Schools, Greg Mortenson describes how his organization strives to build schools in some of the hardest to reach communities so the young women there can learn to read thereby bringing about the biggest potential change. He quotes The Girl Effect which states "If you teach a boy, you educate an individual; but if you teach a girl, you educate a community." So he builds schools for girls in this war-torn region in order to defeat the extremist Taliban jihad teachings that misinterpret the peaceful philosophy of the Koran which turns children into warriors.

Greg Mortenson states it eloquently:…" the mind of a child is like the surface of the lake beside the school – and because they know that trying to contain the flames that are lit by literacy can be as futile as dropping a stone onto the surface of that lake and attempting to hold back the ripples with one’s hands."

If you have time to read only one inspiring book this summer, read this one. Then take some action! You don’t have to donate to his project (but you might consider doing so), but what I truly hope is that you do something to promote literacy and education in your own neighborhood!