It Happened in 1977

* Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat was the first Arab to visit Israel and acknowledge her right to exist.
* MRI is first used
* “Son of Sam” murderer is arrested
* Panama Canal treaty was signed by then-President Carter
* The first Concord flight departs from NY’s JFK airport
* The Alaskan pipeline is completed
* The first black Miss Universe was crowned
* President Jimmy Carter pardons Vietnam-era draft dodgers
* First female Episcopal priest was ordained
* Elvis Presley died
* Some of the greatest people I know graduated from high school in Dumas AR

Thirty years later we all gathered in our hometown to say hello, catch up on the past, remember some funny and sometimes embarrassing moments, and attempt to turn back the clock if only for a day.

It was great to see so many of those whom I had actually known since kindergarten. Life, and families, and towns were not so transient then. We had a few classmates come and go, many now long forgotten, but my own children are constantly amazed at how long I had known so many since they were forced to move often early in my career life.

It never fails that I get a little melancholy whenever I visit my hometown, especially when it comes time to leave but leave I must. Dumas is no longer my home although it will always be my hometown. Though my parents still live in Dumas, I don’t think this hometown concept will change much once their time is past. Spending so many years with the same people during the formative years of childhood creates a special attachment that I think can never be severed even as distance, careers, and age come between us. For good or bad, we will always be the class of ’77. This reality is actually much more profound than it sounds because as I shared with the class during a speech in honor and in memory of our classmates who have since passed on, we are each a part of another’s past. Whether the impact of one’s life has been positive or negative, it is there nevertheless and can never be eradicated – not completely. We can only pray that the negative will be forgiven.

I think about my classmates often especially since I am still a student. I was a less-than-stellar student during those years, and many of my classmates tried to encourage me to do better in school. I did my level best to drink away my last two years of school, but all that was accomplished by this was that I spent a lot of money I’ll never see again. All the encouragement that was offered to me, however, did not take root until years later. I’m still pursuing that ever-elusive college degree, but I’m doing it stone sober and with the support of a wonderful family who picked up where those God-given classmates left off.

My prayer, in remembering how much these people meant to me then and still mean to me now, is that maybe in some small way I was able to bless them as they have all blessed me.

My best to the Dumas High School class of 1977. Good health and the Lord’s peace be with each of you and those whom you love.

Michael