Where were you in 83? I remember one time very well - I was babysitting three kids, watching the final episode of M*A*S*H. At the time, I remember it brought great sorrow, because it reminded me that in about four months, I'd be graduating high school and leaving everything I know to head off for the Air Force. That meant leaving my high school sweetheart, my friends, my family, to learn a whole new way of life...of playing with bombs (I loaded weapons on the F-111D Fighter jet)
Boy, was I in an emotional tailspin!
But that was soon suppressed by my Sociology class the next day as we discussed the implications of the show in the fact that character of Hawkeye used the term "son of a bitch". Wonder what would happen if that same class was to get together now and compare notes on the language used on television shows, especially given cable channels. Hmm.
And as I watch everyone in the two cities I serve graduate high school (85 students between the two), plus the college graduates in various cities around the area and country, I worry about what their future holds. What possibilities are there for them? What opportunities will there be for each of them?
And what are they leaving behind? I was in a class of over 200. These high school youth are in a class of 20 and 65. A tighter-knit family. And even the class of 65 is a very tight-knit family, given the injury of one of their classmates this past Fall, and how everyone rallied together for him. How will they feel in a year or two, or five or ten?
And how will the underclassmen feel at times like the 5th Quarter and such, with the class of 2012 not being there with them? Sure, there is always the next class that will move up to fill in the slot, but this was a unique year, and year that I hope won't have to be relived in some ways.
But with computer and social media being what it is now versus back then (In 83, I had to type in my own programs into the operating system to play a computer game, and save it on a cassette tape... 5 inch floppy disks were just coming into use at the time), out of the 200+, I'm still in contact with quite a few people, so out of these classes here, it should be a lot easier to stay in contact with each other.
In my Yearbook, there was a section where we would "Will" something to others, so to the Class of 2012, I Will the opportunities to use social media for the goodwill of staying in contact with one another, sharing your joys and concerns, and may the blessings always be recognized among you all. Never despair, always find the good, and never forget the fun.
Amen.
