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Reunions bring focus to God's purposes
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___To see where you’re going, sometimes you have to look at where you’ve been.
___ We know this, because this is turning into our summer for nostalgia. We started with my Dad’s 50th high school reunion in Hot Springs, Ark., which we combined with a brief family reunio
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ALISON WINFIELD
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n.
___ My Dad is the youngest of eight siblings, seven of whom are still living. By the time you add in their spouses and offspring, a number of cousins, cousins-once-removed, and second and third cousins, it makes for a lot of people—and not all of them could make it. We had a great picnic, and it was wonderful to see everyone.
___ The best part of the trip was hearing my Dad talk about his past. Never very talkative about his roots, he opened up and showed us the small town where he grew up and told us about his life. Seeing the actual places helped my brother and me visualize his childhood and where he came from.
___ The next sojourn into nostalgia was Mark’s 20th high school reunion in Moore, Okla. This was the first time I have been able to meet some of Mark’s high school pals. (Unfortunately, I never managed to corner one of them so I could get something good on him and give him a hard time.
___ After mingling with close to 300 strangers at different functions throughout the weekend, I can safely say that Mark owes me big time. And I can’t even claim a payback at my high school reunion, coming up next week, because he transferred there his senior year, and he knows quite a few people I know. I’ll think of something.
___ We also explored the town where Mark grew up, but it was a different scenario. Mark’s old house in Moore was one of many blown away last year in a horrific tornado. In Moore, we realized how quickly and utterly things can change.
___ Mark’s parents, who drove from Albuquerque, N.M., to join us for the weekend (any chance to babysit the grandkids will do), had a hard time recognizing their old neighborhood, because there were no landmarks left. With the new houses going up and many vacant lofts which have long since been cleared of debris, it looked completely different.
___ It’s hard to go home again when home isn’t there anymore.
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___Yes, the landscape of my hometown has changed drastically due to last year’s tornado, but the high school reunion proved to me that I’ve changed quite a bit myself.
___ Plenty of physical changes were on display with people who are fatter or thinner or prettier or not
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MARK WINGFIELD
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as pretty.
___ I was just glad not to be nominated for the male who had lost the most hair. I was worried about this when I first saw the listing on the program; but then I looked around and realized some of my classmates had become even more follicularly challenged than me. (Actually, we could have given an award for most-fake hair as well, but I digress.)
___ It’s worth noting, also, that all the women who were in the running for having the most children didn’t look like they had delivered five children—much less raised them.
___ The most astounding thing was to see how unpredictable high school appearances can be as a gauge of a person’s future direction. Some people we all thought would become lawyers or doctors or billionaires are instead working in local factories. And others we all thought might end up on welfare have experienced financial and professional successes.
___ As we crossed the Red River back into Texas, I pondered with renewed appreciation the life journey on which God has led me. Not all the roads have been smooth, and not all the stops have been picnics. But when seen over a 20-year span, God’s purpose and grace and protection come into much clearer focus.
___ Being reminded of where you’ve been not only helps you know where you are, it also helps you see where you’re going.
Mark Wingfield is managing editor of the Standard. Alison Wingfield is a freelance writer. The Wingfields moved to Texas from Louisville, Ky., where Mark had been editor of the Western Recorder, in which this column appeared weekly. |
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