Friends & Memories

The Backstory...

In early 2009 God put an old friend on my mind; someone I hadn't seen or talked to in years. The throughts were so strong that I called Debbie (Rankin) Herring and asked if she had heard from Bethellen (Lowe). A few weeks later Debbie called me and said that out of the blue she had heard from Bethellen. We connected on Facebook and it was great. In September that same year another school friend's mom died. Several of us talked and made plans to go to the funeral. We went to the funeral and a reunion broke out. Judy (Dye) Harrison's mom, who had died, would have loved it!!

There were six of us who ran around together all through school and I wanted us to get together. We made plans for Oct 17th and along with those already mentioned Susan (Shumpert) Schlicht and Sharyn (Johnston) Knight all came to my house to spend most of the day. We stayed in touch, some of us more than others, by email and facebook and the occasional phone call but we didn't get together again until October 2010.

In 2010 we met at Riley's in Nettleton for lunch and several hours of visiting. Judy Harrison didn't get to come, but Peggy (Weeks) Burnside did. We decided then to meet again in January 2011.

Happening Now...

Through email, facebook and phone calls, we let others know we were gathering at Riley's again on January 15th. We weren't sure who would show up and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of folks who came. Thirteen of us gathered and shared some great memories and a lot of laughter. We realized that several of our friends have passed away; we would miss them. And we decided that it was important enough that we needed to gather again. Maybe in April there will be even more people there, adding to the shared memories of wonderful years of growing up in a small town.

To me, personally, it has been a true blessing from God to reconnect with Bethellen. For one thing, she has been gracious in picking me up for all these events. But more, it is such a joy to see who she has become in the LORD. There was a definite purpose that God put her on my heart in early 2009. We may not know the full reason until we step into glory, but for now her friendship has added tremendously to my life.

Our class will turn 60 this year. I'm sure that all of us begin to deal with this season of our lives, we will need each other from time to time. Reconnecting through regular meetings will strengthen bonds; we'll be more aware of needs in others' lives. It's hard to put into words how much I love these folks - the ones I know well and the ones I don't know so well. What a blessing this has been in my life. God is good all the time!!

Present: Buddy Coggin, Mem Riley, Jimmy Bryan, Bill Farrar, Shelia Morgan Sudduth & husband, Peggy Weeks Burnside, Sherry Hipps Ashley, Debbie Rankin Herring & grandson, Sharyn Johnston Knight, Susan Shumpert Schlicht, Bethellen Lowe Nicholson and LaRue Gregory Peters