I have been thinking about the upcoming memorial service honoring the deceased members of Lubbock Monterey High School’s Class of 1980. It will be held on the campus of our alma mater during the 30 year reunion weekend this month. Lots of thoughts have rolled through my head regarding this event. Specific people come to mind. And I have been pondering the circumstances of some of the deaths that have occurred. And for some crazy reason, I keep thinking about Ms. Jeter…

Ms. Jeter was my health class teacher in the 10th grade. Health was not at the top of my list of classes where I expected to experience academic enrichment. In fact, I decided long before the first meeting that it was going to be a complete and total waste of my precious time. I was 15 years old. I had other high priority engagements to pursue. But Ms. Jeter surprised me.

She brought in guest speakers. One was a recovering alcoholic, who was very active in Alcoholics Anonymous. She used class time to share her testimony. I have never forgotten her presentation. Ms. Jeter spoke very directly to us about sexual matters. There were no predictable vintage 1954 movies about sexually transmitted diseases. Ms. Jeter probably broke every health class curriculum rule that existed in 1978, and spoke very forthrightly about all kinds of issues pertaining to sex. Naturally she had no problem keeping our attention during her colorful and descriptive lectures.

One Friday morning Ms. Jeter took us on a field trip. A field trip in health class…Can you imagine that? She took us to a dilapidated nursing home over on 34th street. The place was a dump. I am quite sure that she wanted us to interact with the forgotten elderly people, who resided in that awful place that was masquerading as a home for older people unable to take care of themselves. But I think she had other goals in mind as well.

A young man only two or three years older than us resided at that facility. He had been seriously injured in a car crash on Slide Road on a rainy night. His car hydroplaned on the wet road and that led to a life changing accident. The crash caused serious neurological damage. His ability to take care of himself and function in life was seriously diminished. I think Ms. Jeter purposely intended for us to visit with him that day.

Our time with him that morning made an impression on me. In a way that event foreshadowed where my career would take me years down the road. As a minister and law enforcement chaplain, I spend a lot of time with people affected by horrible car crashes. Thank you Ms. Jeter for giving me some initial preparation to serve during such times! But she accomplished another mission in my life that day.

I think for the first time ever I realized that I was not invincible. Bad things happen to decent people. 18 year old men end up living with 88 year old men in foul smelling nursing homes. Our out of the box health teacher accomplished quite a feat during that short field trip only a few blocks from our sheltered existence at Monterey High School. I have a hunch that most of had our invincible status removed at least temporarily that day.

Members of that health class are all 47 or 48 years old now. I am quite sure all of us have had several reminders since the day of that field trip that we are not invincible. Those closest to us are not either. My father passed away very suddenly only weeks after that that short bus ride over to 34th street. I lost my mother a few years later. My classmates have had similar experiences in their families too.

The truth is we are not invincible. We have lost a number of our classmates over the past 30 years. I am aware of the circumstances of some of their deaths and others I know little about. But now that we are older and wiser, we are going to honor their lives in a fitting way. A Memorial Service recognizing deceased members of Monterey’s Class of 1980 will be held during our upcoming reunion in Lubbock later this month.

I officiate at over a dozen funerals every year. I attend memorial services honoring fallen police officers annually. But I have never attended a service that is intended to pay tribute to a group of my own peers. I wonder what that will be like.

The upcoming memorial service will be held in the same facility where Ms. Jeter taught us about health and about life itself nearly 33 years ago. I appreciate her impressing on us in her own experiential way of teaching that life is fragile and precious. 33 years later we will be reminded of that fact once again during what I anticipate being a very moving service on July 24th at 2:00 p.m. I hope as many classmates as possible can be present. As you can tell, I have been thinking about the upcoming memorial service honoring the deceased members of Lubbock Monterey High School’s Class of 1980.