This has been a year of milestone anniversaries for me!  Last Saturday, I attended the 50^th anniversary of my high school graduating class from Marion C. Moore High School in Louisville. Earlier this year in April, I participated in the 50^th anniversary of the chartering of my college fraternity.  In May this year, I observed the 40^th anniversary of my graduation from law school. 

This November is my 40^th anniversary of being sworn in as an attorney.  This December is the 30^th anniversary of Michael’s death and my leaving the Department of Justice to enter St. Meinrad Seminary.  In June 2024, I will celebrate my 25^th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood as well as the 10^th anniversary as Pastor of St. Brigid and St. James churches. All these personal anniversaries are dwarfed by the 150^th anniversary of St. Brigid Church which we will celebrate one week from now.

My high school graduating class reunion is fresh in my mind, and I wanted to share my reflections from this event.  As with reunions of this kind, I saw a good number of people I have not seen (Facebook does not count) in fifty years. There was a smaller number I had seen at our 25^th, 40^th and 45^th reunions.  We all wore name badges with our senior pictures, and it was not easy to identify everyone without looking at that name badge. At the beginning, it was a bit awkward for me, since nearly everyone came with a guest, and in most cases, the guest was their spouse. 

In a short period of time, people began to mingle with me, and I was surprised how many remembered me. I was asked to lead the opening prayer.  I began by saying, “You all know me as Fr. Gary Padgett now, but remember, this was the senior class of 1973 that voted me “Least likely to become a Catholic priest.”  By the end of the evening, I had the opportunity to talk, at least briefly, with everyone. 

As I left in my Uber to return home, I realized that I had mostly positive memories of my high school years, similarly the same in my college years. This does not happen to everyone.  Maybe there was more drama, heartbreak, confusion, and disappointment than I am now remembering, but the warm feelings of the reunion were much more genuine to me. All of our anniversaries give us the opportunity to reassess our past, perhaps in the way the 80-year-old sailor does in Jimmy Buffett’s (May he rest in Margaritaville peace) beautiful song, “He Went to Paris.”  The sailor says at the end, “Jimmy, some of it’s magic, and some of it’s tragic, but I had a good life all the way.” I am grateful that I can look back and appreciate so many good memories.