Christmas with Santa Claus - And Santa Claus Himself!

 Jorja Hepner, MHS 66

 Kris Streed, MHS 66

 Moline's homegrown Santa - Mike Collins, MHS 68

 Kathleen Wilcox, MHS 66

 Bethany Jackson's Christmas dress, MHS 66, once removed

The Other Anniversary on November 22nd - Gregory Jackson and Christina Ellenberger Jackson - Fifty Years

John Robeson asked me when I was going to post our 50th wedding anniversary. As the cub reporter for Moline Memories, I began asking him early for anniversary photos.

John and I were in chem-physics class together and even appeared in the same newspaper photograph about the class. That was about 54 years ago. It was great to see John and Diana at the 50th reunion and earlier ones. Planning ahead, we have marked our calendars for the 70th reunion.

Christina and I met the first day of classes at Augustana College. I walked to school, rode my bike, and sometimes had a car. Many of  the friends from MHS 66 - The Class the Stars Fell On - hung around the student union. Christina got to know the Moliners and always came to the reunions. We went to my mother's activities and to my father's, so she became quite used to the Quad-Cities.

I took German classes, her major, and Christina took two years of Greek. We got married 15 minutes after early graduation from Augustana.

We celebrated our anniversary with friends and church members all over the US, Australia, and the Philippines. It was great to hear from the Canadian branch, too. I got to know that side of the family better when we lived and earned degrees in Ontario, right after Augustana and marriage. When we met Pastor Walter Otten, he knew the same clan from serving as a pastor in southern Ontario. We had another connection, with Pastor Richard J. Neuhaus, since we attended his home parish and heard his late father preach on Easter Sunday.

Pastor Jordan Palangyos, in the Philippines, likes to borrow blog posts and he is welcome to do that. He asked his pastor friends, Lito and me, to write about traditional marriage, so I will add a paragraph here.

God created the institution of marriage, the only human institution directly from Him.  God commands what is good for us, so we should not look upon marriage as a burden but as a divine blessing. There is nothing better than loving and being loved by someone. If God allows us a reasonable amount of health, we can grow in marriage for decades, experiencing the changes in life, opportunities and disappointments arising.

Marriage is the ultimate partnership, but nothing breaks up a partnership like a lack of forgiveness. Without forgiveness through faith in Christ, no partnership can survive. The result of unforgiveness is mutual accusation, mutual irritation, mutual hate replacing love.

The irony is that all people marry their opposites, because opposites attract and then annoy. Where one is strong, the other is weak or perhaps indifferent. That even includes who makes the ice cubes and other fundamental tasks. Humility lets us see how the other person is vital to all happiness, success, tranquility, and laughter. The opposite perspective is often exactly right, as I often remind my wife. But I hasten to add that she has made everything possible and delightful as well.

If we do not remain with the True Vine, Christ, through the Gospel Word and worship, we cannot be fruitful. Eternal values, revealed in the Scriptures, transcend the troubles of the day and transform the worst difficulties into blessings.

Sassy the Vistor

On morning walks, Sassy visits Pat whenever she is out. Pat even comes out in the cold to see Sassy. Today, Pat's son was visiting from Tucson, so the three of us watched Sassy scour the yard for treats. She found a roast bone and settled down for a long session. Pat was pleased to have her son there and Sassy enjoying the bone.

That reminded me of the 50th reunion of the Moline High School class of 1966. We took Sassy along and had two goals - we would see Toby McGriff in the nursing home, first of all, and Guy Johnson when he had time.

Toby's nursing home welcomed dogs, and Sassy soaked up the love from everyone. In fact, so many wheelchairs gathered around Sassy that all traffic stopped and we had to break up the traffic jam.

At Toby's room we could see he was in bad shape. Our memories went back to junior high band, starting with John Deere and ending with MHS. The same people come together for band, even for summer marching band practice, so we had years to compare band directors, baton twirlers, and band trips. Toby loved seeing Sassy. The Moline High 66ers went to Augustana in a large group, so Christina felt very much at home with the Moliners at Augie and the overlapping friendships. It was very hard to leave Toby - we all felt the sadness, no time for chipper denials. Toby passed on to eternal life not long after.

 Toby and I had stories way back in time.

Our other goal was to see Guy Johnson, whom we met at Lago's for the 45th. Our friendship went back to Garfield Grade School (now a condo) and comic books. I bought all the Classics Illustrated, even ordering them from the publisher, and gathered DC comics by the pound.

We sat outside and below the motel, near the river, visiting with Guy. He brought his dog who came over to me for petting and compliments. Sassy felt left out and tried some sharing, only to be growled away. She stood back, hurt, for a time - until Guy fussed over her. Then both dogs beamed as we all talked.

 Guy Johnson - outside of Lagomarcino's. His group asked for suggestions for their reunion. The '66 imperial reunion committee considered suggestions lèse-majesté.

Congratulations and God's Blessings - John and Diana Robeson's 50th Wedding Anniversary

John and Diana Robeson were married on November 22nd, 1969.

John and Diana flew to the Golden Gate bridge.

They biked the Golden Gate bridge with their family.

John is one of two PhDs in math/science who were part of the experimental chem-physics class at Moline High, The Class the Stars Fell On.

Alan Hoffman was the other PhD in chem-physics class. Here is Alan getting his Eagle Scout award with John Robeson.