FORTY YEARS, THIRTY FIVE YEARS, AND FIVE MONTHS

I'm feeling all the feelings today as I sit here reading the Sunday papers while the Class of 2024 takes the stage over on campus.

Forty years ago today, the Class of 1984 bid farewell to Lima Central Catholic High School with a standing ovation for our teachers, and hugs, tears, and prayers for one another. We've gone out into the world and become what we were meant to be. We've celebrated milestones, mourned terrible losses, moved far away, and gathered again closer together with our memories and experiences as varied as our life stories.

We'll meet again this year, hopefully, to remind ourselves that our family continues to grow...with the arrival of new adventures, perhaps children or grandchildren...some retirements or promotions, or even some hard stuff, too. But, thankfully, we won't see the grey hair or lined faces or extra pounds of old age...we'll still see the smiles and magic of eighteen-year old eyes that had the world in front of them.

For me, May 19 was also the day that I graduated from Notre Dame. I marvel at the differences between that day in 1989 and now. It's not just that today's graduates seem so much younger than we were, but it's the fact that they seem so much more...prepared.

Are they as terrified of the future as I was, or are they marching confidently in the directions of their dreams?

My prayer for them is that it's the latter, and that they will achieve every goal and bear up mightily against any adversity, and that Our Lady will always protect and guide them.

And finally, what is perhaps the best of the day is the five month celebration of little Miss Collins McGue being here. Oh...my heart is just so full of hope and wishes for her to make her own special splash in this world! I think she's off to a great start!

So Happy May 19th everybody! If you have memories of your own for today, I hope they're wonderful and swell! Come tell me all about them!