Lord God, bless the women who graduated together from Immaculata 50 years ago.
They were wonderful then and have grown to be more wonderful since then.
How lucky we are to have had this weekend to spend with one another to reminisce.
So much has happened in 50 years and yet, so much has stayed the same.
How fun it was to share this time with one another and get a fresh perspective on our history.
Fifty years is a long time, long enough to find and lose partners, beget and launch children.
Fifty years ago is long enough to have made great strides as well as many mistakes.
Fifty years is a short time ago in that we are all still the person we were in yesteryear.
Fifty years ago is a good time and now is the time to give thanks for our memories.
Fifty years ago we were naive adolescents and yet strong women. Now we are wise souls.
We are very grateful to Sue and her team for their efforts to unite us; it took a lot of work.
We are grateful to each person who came to share their story and listen to others.
We are grateful for technology and how it helped us make and renew many more connections.
There was an excitement and anticipation about what might have been spoken and shared.
We were glad to meet old friends and perhaps even made some new ones on this occasion.
Conversations were mostly light and positive – like Christmas cards/letters sent and received.
People looked much the same (almost) and we were all grateful for the health we had.
Yet, we wonder what was behind our smiles and light conversation and what wounds do we own?
Some were comfortable sharing a tough part of their story and appreciated trusting as gift.
Alums asked each other questions about who they were and what gave meaning to their lives?
Immaculata was a safe place to learn about who we were and how we fit in the world.
One could wonder how many of us still belong to the church of our high school faith?
One could wonder what church, prayer and community mean to us individually and collectively.
Collectively we were naïve in 1965, but not in 2015. What has changed us?
What do we hope for in our world now and how are we continuing to make a difference?
Life is good and our reunion was good; we were taught to be authentic and to share our reality.
Some have been hurt by life and that transformed them? How can we support them?
Where is our joy and how can we share that with one another? Laughter is so helpful.
We believe in one another and are grateful to be touched by each other again. Thanks to all.
Life at Immaculata was a treasured gift; it was what we needed to become who we are.
We were loved and valued and learned it was okay to just be oursleves in a variety of ways.
We learned about the power and choices women had long before it was in vogue to live that.
We learned a lot about praying and who God was or wasn’t in our lives. We learned to laugh a lot.
We learned what it “meant to be religiously grounded, well-educated & socially conscious.*
Lord God, thank-you for all that was, all that is and all that will be in the lives of us all.
I believe God is saying to each of us in the class of 1965 the words from Jeremiah 29.
I know the plans I have in store for you; it is Yahweh that speaks –
plans for peace, not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you.
Thanks to one and all, those we saw and those whose faces are just etched in our memories. Amen
janethoeyrobinson 10-15
*Quote from Barbara Johns about Immaculata in the Feminist History of the Sister Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, p.322
Immaculata High School Class of 1965 