I'm still wearing my green sweater over my dark powder blue shirt when I got to the student center. Three story building but it was for the students with table tennis, TV's, and stores with University clothing, flags, and books. Nice bathrooms. Elevators. Finally, the students on an autumn lazy day sitting on those couches watching American football. This one dude was betting on Georgia to win even though he went to Alabama. He was there because his sister went to Reinhardt and she sat across with her former roommates.
The reception took place on the bottom floor. There were sitting tables with old yearbooks of Reinhardt from the the 1946 to 1973 (the year that James Burgess served as President of Reinhardt College). Likewise, there was a HD plasma screen in front of the couches. Guess what everybody was watching: Georgia. vs. LSU football. Lot of old men with their wives. Some were former students who met their husbands on campus. I met this one guy who graduated in 1952 who became a pastor at a Lutheran church in Snellville. He graduated from a class of four in his high school in Savannah. All four went to college and graduated.
The person who stuck out with me was this lady named Ruth. Like a lot of women, you notice three names on their name tags with their class year they graduated. I forgot the maiden or middle and the last. One of the few times I didn't nose or talk to anybody. I sat in this corner with the yearbooks and letting my imagination run. Ruth then comes in and introduces herself to me which struck me as kind of odd. She looked like a school, guidance counselor who looked about 52 years old to 60 years old. No grays in her hair, face hardened a bit but no visible wrinkles but some strains, teeth look okay. You could tell she exercised because she was well-toned on her muscles with some flab disease. Then she throws a bomb, she tells me that she graduated in 1950.
I was visibly "flooored." I asked her what she did and mentioned working in corporate America and now works at charity organizations for people who are disabled. She can ask for a salary if she chooses but doesn't even though she easily moves up to head of the organization. Then she asked me what I did. I told her and she said about my job and looked at me and said, "it looks like the caregiver is going to go before the person you care for." There were a lot of pity and condemn type backbiting remarks from her as the conversation went on. I think she liked me but was angry at me. For what, I don't know. It was as if she knew me through somebody like a spy or something. I didn't want to look at her but she kept looking at me before leaving. I was amazed she could still walk with those flat top heels up those stairs. I couldn't find the 1950 yearbook but I looked for in the 1949 yearbook and she wasn't there.
That session was mostly soda's and something else. I did meet some more old folks and younger folks like in the early 1970's. My favorite photo from the yearbook was this long haired guy with his girlfriend or fiance looking at the horizon. I just hoped, that dude kept his hair. What struck me odd about this meeting, was the preacher saying that he didn't not know anybody from the reunion. If you listen to the theme, everybody knew each other and how they all gather to meet during church. There were people who graduated in 1952 but didn't hang around his circle. This info was very relevant for the next session. Stay tuned.
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