Sixty-four

The birth date that I share with Felix Mendelssohn and Horace Greeley was my 64th. There is so much to look back and behold. I can remember the house on Franklin Ave. in New Orleans where we lived with my grandparents from 1945 to 1956. The last time I saw that house was in late spring of last year. The trees in front were gone, and it had been painted pink. I did not see the house I lived in after 1956, out on Prentiss Ave. in Gentilly. I wonder if it's still there. But there was no reason to go that way. The last time I visited Valpo, many of the buildings that used to be West Campus were gone. That was the heart of campus activity in the early 60s. Passenger trains used to stop in that little town, at least the locals. I am now the senior member of my family. Sooner or later that had to come about. The seminary has also changed. There is a large chapel, and the wilderness which occupied the western third of the campus has been tamed. I have been pastor at Christ Church for 28 years now. I was circuit counselor for twelve of those years. And we maintain our traditional worship. That, at least, I consider an accomplishment.