10/16/2025
Coming Home Again To Indiana Academy
If you're thinking about skipping your high school reunion, think again. Over the weekend, I traveled to my 40th high school reunion. I wasn't sure what to expect and when I turned the corner and passed a few familiar buildings in the tiny town of Cicero, Indiana, my hands actually got a little sweaty! I wasn't sure how it would feel to be on the campus without my best friend, Jennifer. I can never picture the girl's dorm without Jen bursting in the front doors, like she did every morning, earlier than I wanted.
Forty years later, I was walking on the sprawling campus hand in hand with my husband. The campus didn't feel like my campus any longer. It was filled with young students lounging in the open areas where boys and girls mingle on Sabbath afternoons. But a glance at the cafeteria showed me that the distance didn't seem as far as it had in the early mornings when you had to decide if breakfast was worth what felt like a long walk through the cold. And a glance to the right, I couldn't see the aging, crooked dorm with the radiator heat that wouldn't ever turn off. But the biggest change that left a lump in my throat was the missing steps that led to the oversized building that housed our Chapel. I spent afternoons in the Chapel. Being upstairs in the Chapel with the warmth of the sun streaming through the endless walls of windows are still some of my most peaceful feelings. Every afternoon when I walked up those spiraling steps, some days alternating staircases and walking up the forbidden boys side, I knew when I emerged into the upstairs chamber, God would be there waiting for me. It was one of my jobs to prepare the Chapel for morning services and I hope you sometimes noticed that I often took the attachment off the old vacuum cleaner to better be able to remove the dead bees that always lined the windows. I liked the idea of preparing well to give you the best start to your morning.
But the Chapel wasn't there. Probably came down a long time ago. The administration building was still there, but I didn't go in. As I gazed at the campus and it felt barren to me, I didn't feel like lingering. I headed in the direction to a new building that the students pointed. As soon as I walked into this building, a smiling face stood and smiled at me. It was a welcoming smile and came with a big hug. And then another beautiful smile and another big hug. And then another and another and another. And then without warning, my heart swelled in large proportion as I realized that these people share my history, my memories, my experiences, the love for my best friend, Jen, my youth, my God. In one sentence, they are my people. I only spent a few hours with them, but the lift to my spirit hasn't left, and remains inflated. And it's led to renewed connections. Already, I've spent hours talking with an old friend, where the conversation picked up right where we could have left it twenty or more years ago. The friendships you make in your youth, you will never find again, no matter how many years you live.
So, to each of you who spent your days and evenings with me, thank you. Thank you for sharing your youth, I only have the fondest memories of you. We survived the Academy and from what I saw on Saturday, we are thriving.
So, when you get the notice next year, don't toss it in the trash, put a big circle on your calendar and I'll see you there. Same time, same place, next year.
And we'll stand together where some of you last saw our friend, Jennifer, and remember her long flowing hair, and her laughter and anyone else we have lost and smile knowing that we are at last home again at Indiana Academy.
Cheryl
(C)2025Cherylplanck
