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I remember that balmy evening in May. I sat nervously waiting for the principal
to call my name, signaling my turn to step up to receive my Union
Grove High School diploma. Sitting next to me was my brother, Sam, also waiting
his turn. Around the state thousands of others were experiencing the same thing
- young, eager teenagers embarking on a journey into the future. But with Sam
and me it was different. We were both in our seventies.
Governor Perry,
with the help of others, provided the means for those who had interrupted their
education to enter the service in World
War II, to receive their belated diplomas. Here we were, almost 60 years later,
finally becoming high school graduates.
Earlier that day, along with several
other alumni, Sam and I had spent a wonderful afternoon at the home of a fellow
graduate of Union Grove where we were honored with a little party prior to the
graduation ceremony. We were a bit embarrassed by the attention because the other
guests had also been in the war, some having records that far surpassed ours.
The difference? We were the only ones receiving diplomas that night. The fellowship
and the conversation flowed as we sat around and swapped stories from over a half-century
before. |
| | "Between
Sam and me is J. L. Aldridge, one of the nicest, gentlest, persons you'd ever
want to meet.....until he got into a boxing ring." - George Lester
Photo
courtesy George Lester | | |
