09/12/2026
From Laura Wiggin: thank you for this beautiful reunion memoir 🖤💛
a TALL legacy
Recently I attended my 40th Highschool reunion. Right after graduation I moved away. I only returned to Millington a handful of times in the years that followed. I didn’t really keep up with anyone from high school but the gal that sat in front of me for 4 years of homeroom. It was harder to stay connected to those high school relationships with no social media of any kind. Dial up email had not even been born yet! So connectivity had to be intentional. That is the whole purpose that reunions were created right? To get re-connected. But this 40 year re-connection was over the top.
I lived A LOT of life between the 5th and 40th year class reunions! I moved around with my military husband for 20 years plus 13 years in government service. After retirement we settled in Tennessee. Like most people we had children; raised them and sent them off. We had our fair share of ups and downs as well as losses in this thing called life.
As I drove around the once vibrant town a spirit of nostalgia overtook me. It demanded me to look around. The hardware store had changed to something else. The church that I had gone to for a long time had sold their buildings to the city. They built a new church at the outskirts of town. Its original location was right across the street from my high school.
We did a tour of the high school. Sadly the parts of the school we had used had been demolished. It was a gloomy and useless tour depicting that the years had moved on. Our main building had been torn down. With it the historical relevance from both outside and inside. Its beauty crushed. The Votec building was nowhere in sight. The new drab gray buildings seem cold and lifeless to me.
As I continued my nostalgic ride only one word came to me; CHANGE. Most of the fast-food places, gas stations and grocery stores were all changed to something else. I have to admit that I truly did not recognize this as my hometown.
I was a little afraid to continue on to places I had lived. The Navy base there had shut down most of its schools and main operations. As I drove by housing the emptiness was haunting. A quiet eeriness had settled over what used to be my playground. All kinds of fun games were played on those streets. Now it sits void of fun and laughter. The houses were no longer going to make memories.
As I continued down Navy road, I reached the corner store. It, not surprisingly, was run down and had a different name. I pulled through the green traffic light and headed to my Elementary school. When I passed the old Navy hospital (which had a different name) I did a double take. My school was before the hospital. I had missed it. I immediately turned my car around. In no time at all I could hear gravel crunching under my tires. I stared in disbelief. There was absolutely nothing in front of me. Not one brick, not even the sign was left. My heart shattered.
I still had one last place to see. The enlisted housing was just down the way. With a deep breath I turned the corner. I laughed a little when I saw the ginormous pine trees! Row after row of tiny pine trees had been planted the year we moved there. There must have been hundreds of little Charlie Brown pine trees. Being base property, the trees were fenced off. I had to walk to school. For three school years; twice a day; I passed by those fenced off baby pines.
I had to pull over and get out of the car. I stood speechless in front of hundreds of giant pine trees! Those tiny scraggly pine trees had grown to full maturity. No doubt they were over 200 feet tall. Every last one of them stood tall and proud.
As I got back in my car, I was hopeful. As I drove a little further down my heart sank. There was not a single house left standing. The entire HUGE enlisted housing neighborhood was vanished. I swallowed over the lump in my throat. Not a single shingle, not a single brick anywhere.
Memories suddenly flowed through me like river. Jumping off swings, sliding down hot metal slides made me smile. Hide and seek and other games that we played were some of my best times. I pretty much knew every section of enlisted housing.
It was at that moment that I realized in the memories of all those fun times it wasn’t the place that mattered. But the people! What would any of those memories been without friends! We were all friends and played together. That was the igniting fire in those memories. I put my hand to my chest. With a sigh I understood it wasn’t the houses or schools that I missed but the people that had filled them!
There wasn’t a single thing that represented my life but one thing…. What God made: the PINE TREES!
Though a ton of money, time and energy was spent on every detail of my 40th reunion that was not what made it the best ever. It was the people there! The classmates of 1985 were gathered as a tangible reminder of what is important.
F R I E N D S
Those pine trees represented a legacy. One of strength, beauty and perseverance. It made me ask the question…
What kind of legacy am I living right now?
Our legacy is lived between the dashes. What will yours say?
