Last weekend marked a special milestone for my mom Peggy. I joined my parents on Saturday, June 22, to attend Mom’s 75th high school reunion just down the road in the neighboring small town of Wheatfield. Of her Class of 1949, only a few classmates still remain.
And like our own hometown, San Pierre, the original high school building for Wheatfield, an architectural focal point from 1910 to 1970, no longer exists now that students attend Kankakee Valley High School. My mom’s 1949 senior year Wheatfield High School yearbook called The Acrus (which in Greek means “the bow weapon” used for shooting arrows by ancient warriors) lists her academic stats next to her photo, her motto “A penny for your thoughts,” and distinctions like working on the school newspaper “The Echo” and serving as class secretary and class senator. This year’s gathering of the alums included the sad duty of having a moment of remembrance for those who have passed, which includes one-half of the Green Twins from the Class of 1949, since my mom’s twin sister, my Aunt Patty, passed away just over a year ago at age 91 in February 2023.
This year also marked a decade since another of my mom and Aunt Patty’s favorite classmates’ passing, Lewis Clifford Jones, who died in 2014 at age 82. Someone special who did attend the reunion is my mom’s classmate and “best girlfriend,” Camillia Plaga, who is originally from East Chicago but spent most of her life in South Bend after marrying high.
