Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Do you remember the Statler Brothers’ song “The Class of Fifty-Seven”? I’m from the class that has celebrated our fiftieth reunion this year. I also have two grandsons in the class of 2022. Fifty years is half of a century. That is a long time.

Things get complicated when you get past nineteen. But you and your class had your dreams. Stop for a minute or two and remember those dreams. My dream was to become a journalist. I am now a columnist. I’ve not worked as a reporter.

Many of my classmates had dreams of becoming mothers or fathers and raising another generation of decent human beings. At our reunion in June, I visited with many of these classmates and talked about their children and grandchildren. These dreams seem to have been fulfilled.

A few of our class members joined the military and I have not discovered any that died during their military careers. We did lose over forty in the last fifty years. The toughest were the ones that had passed before we even had our ten-year reunion.

I don’t have a count of the number of my classmates that are in ministry. I am sure of at least six and probably more that I am not aware of. Some are retired and others have gone home. Others are just now accepting the call to something beyond themselves.

I spoke with many of these graduates and reconnected with old friends and some that I never knew in High School. We saw improvements that have been made to the building. We heard of other details of construction that should be completed this year.

Almost all of us are retired or will be joining those ranks in the next few years. At least one is starting a new career as a servant of Greene County. He is running for an office and is unopposed. We have decided to start new careers or projects. All are embracing being grandparents and like my mother believe grandkids are so great, that we should have had them first.

Some of us have reached our goals and have created new ones. Life may continue for some of us to see another thirty or forty years. We still have time to accomplish our dreams. I wish to lead as many to Christ as I can before I enjoy my life with my Heavenly Father.

That is the goal I have had for almost fifty years now. I write to educate and to encourage. We must become the followers of Christ to accomplish the dream of reaching as many as we can for the Kingdom. I hope you have joined this dream.

©Copyright 2022 by Charles Kensinger