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

A suggestion was offered by one of our classmates for your consideration in honor  of our 50th Reunion.

Most of our fond memories include a special teacher or teachers. These special women were so instrumental  in our becoming  unique, capable, loving and accomplished women. They instilled in us a love of the arts, literature and a life of learning.    We would be honoring that special time in our lives  in a unique and lasting way by making a donation of 2 to 3 books to a place special to us in our own community .  We could inscribe each book with the teacher’s name.

This is meant for your personal consideration and will be done on a individual basis.

Immaculata Class of 1965                                                                                                                                                  Reunion Planning Meeting

September 14, 2015

Present: Mary Ann O’Rourke, Lillian Demski Birrell, Mary Ann Cirocco Fontana, Mary Scheible, Judy Morad Gumbel, Bev Hydo, Kathy Nacy Stasys, Kathy Petlewski, Paula Geraci Zito, Sue Evans Shovlin

Judy reported we have 51 paying attendees for Friday and Saturday at this date. Just today Mary Ann heard from Ginger Carney and three of the IHM will be attending. We are confident we will meet the $1800 minimum we have promised the Dearborn Inn. We should have enough for renting a TV from DI for a slide show of pictures from our senior yearbook.  Flowers, calling cards and name tags can be covered. We have a few hundred dollars which we may need for various odds and ends. Any extra money after expenses will go to the IHMs.

We will need someone to coordinate the ordering of appetizers at the Friday night Meet and Greet. Sue will call Janet Hoey Robinson and see if she would be willing to do this. (I talked to Janet today (9/15) she has agreed to do it.)

Kathy P and Mary Ann C F are setting up a bio book in conjunction with a Flickr account. Bios can be posted and viewed on line. Anyone interested purchasing a book with the bios can do so through Flickr. We worked on a number of suggestions for questions for the bio. Final decisions will be made by Kathy and Mary Ann.

Lillian is prepared to set up a camera so we can take two photos of the group (half of the crowd in each picture)

Mary Ann will print extra rosters we can send to those who cannot attend. We need to find out who is interested.

Kathy N S is working on a trivia game we will all think of a question or two and give them to her before the next meeting.

Bev shared a rough draft of the nametags.

Lillian had a mockup of the calling cards. She will need the info from Kathy P and Mary Ann CF when they have worked out the class website, Flickr account for bio and pictures, passwords, etc. before she can get them printed.

Sue Shovlin will contact Sue Lyons about our floral arrangements.

Next Meeting September 28, 2015 Shields Pizza, Southfield 6:00.  ALL ARE WELCOME

Discussion for next meeting: Memory Table, Bring more trivia questions

This recipe was recently posted on the Immaculata High School Facebook Group page.  I think all of us have fond memories of warm cookies from Sr. Verda!

Sister Verda’s Famous Peanut Butter Cookies

2 cups shortening
2 cups white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 Tablespoons milk
2 cups peanut butter
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Cream shortening. Add sugars and beat until creamy. Add the next 3 ingredients and stir until mixed. Blend in the rest of the ingredients. Chill dough for 1-2 hrs
Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Press with a fork. Bake in 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes
Makes 60 cookies

Immaculata Reunion Class of ’65 Meeting

March 16, 2015

Present: Mary Buchanan Scheible, Sue Evans Shovlin, Paula Geraci Zito, Janet Hoey Robinson, Judy Morad  Gumble, Kathy Nacy Stasys, Mary Ann O’Rourke, Kathy Petlewski

Reunion will be October 9-10 at the Dearborn Inn.  They are holding 20 hotel rooms for our group until one month before the event. There will be a mixer in the hotel pub on Friday night. We will charge $15 for food with a cash bar. We have been assigned a room for lunch to accommodate 55-70. We are responsible for providing $1800 in revenue. Including room rental, bartender fee, cash bar and buffet luncheon cost. Our fee per person has yet to be decided. The class of ’64 charged $60 per.

Mary Ann will provide Kathy P with an updated spreadsheet of addresses periodically which she will eblast  to all our emails addresses. It is hoped that by all using all of our ‘found’ members they can help us with info on the ‘lost sheep’.

Kathy P, our research expert, will send a list of suggestions for good ways to search for our missing classmates to those who have offered to help us find people.

Judy and Janet will handle collecting the money. Sue will talk to her contacts in the Class of ’64 and find out who was the money handler for their reunion. She will put them in contact with Judy.

Paula and Mary will be in charge of the mailing for our ‘Save the Date’ postcard. Mary Ann is able to provide mailing labels.  It should go out around mid-April.

Mary Ann is in contact with Virginia Carney who is going to help connect us with Monroe. They may be able to help us with spreading the word through their email newsletter.

Kathy P. and Mary Ann will work on setting up a Web page and a Facebook page for the reunion.

Sue will contact Maureen Krupp Labadie to set up some kind of booklet similar to the one we had at the 40^th reunion.

THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2015, 6:00 AT SHIELD’S PIZZA ON TELEGRAPH IN SOUTHFIELD.  ALL ARE WELCOME!