03/17/2026
From one of our Pioneer Classmates, Col Ray Robinson, to all the early Wesleyan Pioneers.
We are the Exennials
We grew up in the 40s-50s-60s.
We studied in the 50s-60s-70s.
We dated in the 50s-60s-70s.
We got married and discovered the world in the 60s-70s-80s.
We ventured into the 70s-80s. We stabilized in the 90s.
We got wiser in the 2000s.
And walked firmly through the 2010s.
Turns out we've lived through NINE different decades. TWO different centuries... TWO different millennia...We have gone from the party-line telephone with an operator for long-distance calls to video calls to anywhere in the world. We have gone from slides to YouTube, from vinyl records to online music, from handwritten letters to email and WhatsApp.
From programs on the radio, to black and white TV, and then to HDTV. We went to Blockbuster and now we watch on Netflix.
We started with manual typewriters, learned electric, proportional spacing and Selectric typewriters, got to know the first computers, punch cards, diskettes, and now we have gigabytes and megabytes in hand on our cell phones or iPad's.
We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, H1N1 flu and now COVID-19.
We rode skates, tricycles, invented cars, bicycles, mopeds, gasoline or diesel cars and now we ride hybrids or 100% electric.
Yes, we've been through a lot but what a great life we've had!
They could describe us as "exennials"… people who were born in that world of the late 30s, 40's and 50's who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood.
We're kind of—You've seen it all!
Our generation has literally lived through and witnessed more than any other in every dimension of life. It is our generation that has literally adapted to CHANGE. A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation, who are UNIQUE.
TIME DOES NOT STOP.
Life is a task that we do ourselves every day. When you look... it's already six in the afternoon; when you look... it's already Friday; when you look... the month is over; when you look... the year is over; when you look... 50, 60, 70 and 80 years have passed!
When you look... we no longer know where our friends are.
When you look... we've lost the love of our life and now, it's too late to go back.
Do not stop doing something you like due to lack of time. Do not stop having someone by your side, because your children will soon not be yours, and you will have to do something with that remaining time, where the only thing that we are going to miss will be the space that can only be enjoyed with the usual friends. The time that, unfortunately, never returns.
The day is today! We are no longer at an age to postpone things.
Hopefully, you have time to read and then share this message. Pass it on to your best friends. Don't leave it for Later.
