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Ascension School 100th Year First Holy Communion Reunion!


First Holy Communion group photo, 2nd Grade, Ascension School, Portland OR, spring, 1959.  Fr. Bennett (Franciscan) at left.  Sr. Clement, our teacher, not pictured.  Having just made our First Confession, our souls were spotless, all.



The girl I liked (best) is sitting front and center, radiating Innocence, Beauty, Purity, Grace, Intelligence and Faith, (virtues achievable, at such an early age, only by means of proper Catholic indoctrination and the Blessed Sacraments.)  She was a perfect little human being.   As for me, I already knew I was flawed, thinking bad thoughts 30 minutes (or even sooner) after confession, likely doomed to Perdition.

She was smart as a whip! I remember we were in the “high” reading group, 1st grade.  I recall she taught me “the,” a mysterious monosyllable that flouted the simple phonetic rules we had learned up to then.  She showed me I could recognize whole words at a glance without having to sound them out.  During this brief earthy life, and for all eternity to come, I shall never stop loving her.


God bless all you kids, and Sr. Clement and Fr. Bennet!  I am still saying my prayers, (though I confess to a long prayerless period in my feckless youth).  I hope we can all meet again in Heaven, but you may have to wait for me as I sweat it out in Purgatory for a few thousand years.  Me and a kid named Bruce (not pictured; he had been held back and done his 1HC the previous year.  I thought it unfair. Bruce also had a talent for language that was under-appreciated by our conservative educators.   In those days, a kid would be held back (in our view), as much for sinful behavior as for slow learning.  But maybe the nuns knew better.) He taught me my first “nasty words,” the crisp little ones that didn’t come from Latin and thus were sinful to utter.  The very first one I learned from him—I remember it well—was “t*rd.”  He brought me along slowly; I wasn’t ready for “sh*t” and “f*ck” till the next year, 3rd grade.)

How about a 100-year reunion in 2059? Maybe they’ll let me out of Purgatory for the weekend. 




Be Our Ghost!


At the Ascension School

1959 100th Year First Holy Communion 
Reunion!
 April 4-6, 2059 Anno Domini
Theme:  “Too Much Time on Our Hands”
Purgatorians Welcome! 
(Furlough required;  Please apply at least five years in advance, St. Peter’s Office, St.Pete@heaven.cos)
First Loves/Soul Mates also Welcome! (Only one per attendee, please!  Ha ha!)
(Please apply directly to St. Valentine’s Office, St.Val@heaven.cos)
Astral Visit to the Old School!
Latin Mass with Fr. Bennett!  (He promises to keep it under 30 minutes!)
(Subtitles provided)

One-Hour Recess with Kick-ball, Jump-rope and Hop-scotch!
Inspirational Speech by a Major Saint! (TBA)

Live Music with Hell’s Belles!
Raffle for 100-year Purgatory indulgences!
Sign up early!








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