Hugh's News & Commentary

Time has a way of speeding up as you get older, and you wonder how in the world did it go so fast.

I graduated from Hewitt High School in Trussville, AL, in May 1950. That was 60 years ago, and I don't feel like I am that old, although my chronological age is 77.  I am not a senior citizen but a chronologically gifted person.

I think I was the youngest member of my class, and that tells me that all of my classmates will be older than me. There were 80 of us who graduated that year. Some 21 of our classmates have passed on to the next world, and I hope they were all Christians and are in heaven.

The leaders of my class who planned this 60th class reunion asked me to write a memorial ceremony to honor our deceased classmates.That document has been written and printed. We will use a table with various items on it to symbolize the lives and work of those who have departed this life. We will have a moment of silent prayer after all the names have been read by two members of our class after I read the ceremony. Then, I will offer a closing prayer which I have written as well for my class.

I was privileged to attend Woodlawn High School in Birmingham for three semesters. I played trombone in the 100 piece marching band. Bobby Bowden was our star football player. My father purchased a small farm in Clay (near Trussville) and we moved there. We lived on this farm the last two years of my high school days. In order to graduate with my class, I had to go to summer school at Phillips High School in Birmingham and take a couple of courses to earn the needed credits. Those were the days. I am grateful for my teachers and my classmates. We grew up in the best of times when we were taught Christian values and respect for others.

I look forward to seeing my classmates on Saturday afternoon. Hewitt-Trussville has a new high school and we will be given a tour of it.

I hope to visit with my sister, Mary Evelyn Morgan McDuff. Her husband, R. H. McDuff, is deceased. Mary Evelyn is 80 years old. She is far more intelligent than I am. She made all "A's" and was inducted into the National Honor Society. I love her and her family. Melvine and I hope to have supper with Mary Evelyn and her oldest daughter, Marsha McDuff Flurry, on Friday evening, August 27, 2010. Marsha works for the Southern Company one of the largest generators of electricity in our country, and it is the parent company of Alabama Power and Georgia Power. Marsha is a secretary senior with this firm. I am very proud of her. She is a Christian and loves our Lord.