| To all in the Class of '65...
I received the flyer for the reunion and was looking forward
to coming home, catching up on what everyone has been doing
over the years, visiting old friends. showing my grandchildren's'
pictures to everyone that would look at them, and generally
reliving some old times with classmates.
I immediately went to the airline websites to book a flight
and to make plans to stay with my brother, who lives in Lee,
to make sure I had a "pillow" to rest my head for
a day or two! I was all set and excited to be seeing old friends
and classmates ...............then.............hurricane Katrina
hit.
I've watched the news, seen the reports in the paper daily,
and listened to the devastation that has happened in Alabama(my
fathers' home state), New Orleans and Mississippi, then looked
around my own home, business, vacation home, vehicles, boats,
etc. (all in good condition) and find, in all good conscience,
I cannot now go to the reunion as much as I would have liked
to.
I don't know how many knew or remembered hurricane Fran from
September 1996 that devastated, among many locations, Raleigh.
Our home was affected, fortunately not seriously, but we were
without power for 2 weeks, In September, in the south, it
is hot AND humid. We had to cook out on our grill, live by
candlelight and hurricane lamps and use our generator sparingly
to save the food in our freezer. It was a very stressful time
for us and we were lucky, many lost there homes completely,
businesses were closed indefinitely and it took a long time
for everything to resume normalcy.
During this time, assistance poured in from all over the
country to help people adversely affected, We had people from
Florida help us get our repairs done so that we could stay
in our house. There were countless disaster recovery teams
that were here in Raleigh to get everyone back on there feet
with at least the basics. We know first hand how this affects
people, towns, and businesses.
So all this said, I have decided to take the cost of my flight
and send it to the Red Cross to help in my small way. I will
miss seeing my classmates but hope y'all have a great time
reminiscing!
I would like to suggest that we as a class maybe take up
a collection and send a joint offering to help those less
fortunate in the hurricane. I would be happy to coordinate
if there is agreement. Please let me know.
I hope you will read my note to everyone at the reunion,
let everyone know I will miss seeing them but will very much
look forward to our next one!
On a personal note: To Chipper!!! If you were able to attend......I
am now in a location where, outside of my family, NO ONE knows
my middle name any more and everyone believes me when I tell
them it stands for "Initial!"
Take care!
M. I. (Peggy ) O'Neill
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