As you know, I'm traveling to Orlando on Friday for my 40th high school reunion. I e-mailed my brother, Jerry, who lives in Orlando to say I would be in town and encourage him to come to the events at the high school
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I attended Orlando Church School for grades 1-8 and Forest Lake Academy for 9-12. These are both Seventh-day Adventist institutions (and I use that word purposely). There were probably 100 people in the graduating class and everyone knew everyone. Probably half of the 100 still live in Orlando and most work in the medical field, many on staff at Florida Hospital, which is an Adventist hospital.
I did not graduate from FLA, but dropped out during the first semester of my senior year, to finish quickly at a technical high school and then start college a semester early. Over the years, my own class (1968) has abandoned me but the class of 1967, in which I had many more close friends, adopted me. Many of the people I'll see this weekend are people I've known since I was two or three years old; probably ten or fifteen will be people I've gone to school with since first grade. It's a very closed, sheltered, protected community!
The weekend starts on Friday night and concludes with a class dinner on Saturday night. A church service or two will be included, and plenty of prayers will be said. I'll be working very hard to keep my cynicism under control.
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Jerry e-mailed me back saying we'd have to get together, but that's all I've heard from him. I had hoped we would offer his guest room, but there was no way I was going to just come out and ask. And I've heard nothing further from him, so imagine my surprise when Mother told me this week that Jerry was taking me out to dinner at noon on Sabbath.
Isn't communication wonderful?!
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