Going Back

The Covid epidemic put a damper on many of the class reunions over the past two years. This June I returned to Nebraska for a special gathering of my rural one-room grade school students. I write about this iconic school in my memoir. In Search of Pink Flamingos. However it was demolished due to school consolation. See my 2020 blog entitled One-Room School House

Of the twenty attending the school (1st-8th) in 1957, seven attended the reunion. I’m in the middle. Two others were in the area, but had event conflicts. Had they come, we would have had a 45% turnout. Not bad for a bunch of old codgers.

I also attended my 53rd high school reunion. Monroe High (Morgan, the name given in my memoir) also closed, some years ago. Here is just a portion of the 40 in attendance from a variety of classes. I am on the far right. I was asked to do a presentation, so I presented a slide show describing my journey from the farm to a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia and Tonga and back to the US. I talked about the events that happened in my family. I left them with a takeaway message that focused on the subtitle of my book – forgiveness and unconditional love:

“Our time on this earth is precious
Find it in your heart
to Love and Accept
Family and loved ones NOT for who you want them to be
but for who they are…
unconditionally“

Nebraska is not without its thunder and hail storms. Here is the grain elevator in Morgan (Monroe) silhouetted by an impending thunder head that later poured causing local hail damage to crops and cars. Just a regular summer on the farm.

The nearby town of Monroe (Morgan) and other small surrounding towns, have shrunk from once vibrant small community centers to barely the essentials: a bank, a post office, a church and a tavern. Here is downtown Platte Center, 8 miles from Monroe, population 450.

I was saddened by this change that happened since my last visit 12 years ago. However the nearby town of Kanton (Columbus), the center of commerce, is growing and prospering. Farming is still the core and the pulse of this community as well as most of Nebraska, as shown by my friend’s son, Doug, and his helper.

Cousin DonnieThe abandoned farmstead High School classmate, BeaHigh school classmates, Ken, left and Linda, rightDowntown MonroeOther Nebraska Memories

I look forward to your rely to this blog below. What does it remind you of? Or clap if you like it!! Feel free to read my blogs listed below or follow my future ones by leaving your email on my front page of my website.

Going BackA Thanksgiving TourThe Rest of the StoryNever the Same AgainThis Mother’s Day