Attending My Ten-Year High School Reunion - I Wowed Them

It was my 10 year high school reunion back in Minnesota in Aug, 1986 and I had this really strong desire to attend it. I was 6 years a UM member, had just graduated from UTS Divinity program and I guess I wanted the chance to see old school mates and maybe share my adventures, show them how much I had grown, changed, and why. But my mission was in Gloucester, Mass tuna fishing for the summer and I had no money. All I could think of was, “If there is a will, there is a way.”

So nearing the end of our time in Gloucester, I asked permission to fly home to Minnesota for the weekend. I must have borrowed some money to take a bus from Gloucester to Boston because I don’t remember hitchhiking! I went completely on faith and booked a one way air ticket to Minnesota after arriving at the Boston church centre Friday morning. I asked for help at the church centre to get some roses and after wrapping them, I set out to fundraise at a traffic light. Selling all of my roses, I managed to make enough money to pay for the roses, and my air tickets with very little money left over. The next morning I caught my flight to Minneapolis. The reunion would be that evening.

As we prepared for take off, I prayed and thanked God for getting me that far. But I told him that I felt bad visiting my parents home mainly so that I could go to the reunion but with only enough money for my return flight, almost empty pockets, like a beggar. Suddenly, a voice over the loudspeaker announced that the flight was overbooked and asked if anyone would be willing to get off the plane until the next flight and their reward would be a free return ticket. Before I could decide that that announcement was for me, and get off the plane, someone else jumped up and got off the plane. I then repented to God that I hadn’t realized quick enough that he had answered my prayer. I told God that if the announcement came again, I would quickly get off the plane. A few minutes later, the same announcement came and I quickly got off the plane, saving me the cost of my return flight!

Arriving at my parents’ home, I looked through my “fishing” clothes to see what I could wear to the special evening event. My elder sister stopped over to see me and told me she had some clothes and shoes in my parents spare bedroom that I could use. Being the clothes lover that she was, she found me a really smart looking gorgeous pantsuit with heeled sandals and jewelry. My hair was bleached blond from being out on the fishing boat all day every day for 2 months so after dressing up in her clothes, even I didn’t recognize myself!

American high schools can be very cliquey and when I arrived that evening at my reunion, I could feel people looking at me and wondering who I was. We had been asked ahead of time to write down something about our life so of course, I used that opportunity to write something about True Parents and my experience having joined the UM. When I was in high school, I was somewhat shy and insecure except with my group of girl friends. But that evening I was so full of confidence, so free and liberated, so sure of my identity as God’s daughter that it became a memorable evening and an experience that I felt God and spirit world wanted to give to me.

My parents were also happy to see me, if only for a brief time, because four years previous, they had put me through a deprogramming and after that, I refused to see them for 3 years. This was a spontaneous visit, so they could realize that not only I had my own free will to do things outside of church missions, but I still wanted to do things such as dress up and go out with old friends. My experiences tuna fishing were unparalleled to anything any of my family had ever done and I wowed them with my tales. I am so grateful that I had developed the faith to carry through with my inspiration to attend my high school reunion. Thirty-two years later, in 2018, the Minnesota UM members built a FFWPU Family Church near my high school in my hometown. I think its time to go back for another reunion!!