The Other Class of '99

A couple of days ago I wrote about the FUMC-K graduating class of 1999 and how special they were to me.  There was another class at the same church the same year that was also very special.  The Confirmation Class of '99, comprised of mostly 6th grade students, was the final confirmation group of the millennium.  It was also the last group I worked with in Kissimmee.  Even though I had them in "uth" for less than 2 years, this group became very a special part of my life and my memories.

This was a class dominated by females with strong personalities.  The guys- Bobby Young, Matthew Rogers and Johnny Singleton- had no chance against the plethora of females in their class.  In addition to several young women and men I don't really remember, this group included (pictured) Victoria Cottam, Isabelle Davis, Julia Pribyl, Brittney Herder and Bethany Esry.   Also in the class were Sarah Whitman and Jessie Gudahl (who were both older I believe); Celia Thacker, Meredith Karr, Justin MacLachlan and Megan & Natalie Hord.  Many of these youth are not just names to me; they are stories!  Witness the following accounts:

• Celia, while at Myrtle Beach, once gave us all the deep insight that "there are fish in the ocean."  We were stunned...
• Sarah, while on a Ski Trip, found herself the object of some unwanted affection from a group of truckers. Or at least that was the story we made up after an odd late night phone call...or something.   I'm pretty sure that is not a true story, but we told it for years!
• I gave Meredith beginner guitar lessons in my office, and we had a lot of fun.  I wonder if she still plays?
•  One of my final great memories from FUMC-K was a Melbourne trip we took in February just before I moved to Chicago.  Bethany, Izzy, Brittney and Julia made that trip memorable in many ways, but especially the lunch we shared at the Chinese restaurant.  Fabulous memories, many of which they reserved for me in a scrapbook they presented me with later.

• Isabelle and her mother Debbie (pictured) quickly became two of my favorite people after they arrived in Kissimmee.  Debbie directed the K-5 school at the church, and we spent a lot of time laughing (and complaining) in my office with Jill Augenblick, our child care director.  My favorite memory of Izzy is the little dance she would go every time we played the Audio Adrenaline song, Get Down.  She was dancing, but it was like someone was throwing something at her head and she was ducking at the same time.  I still find myself trying to copy her moves whenever I hear that song...

The Confirmation Class of 1999 was still in middle school when I left Kissimmee in 2000.  Today, many of them are in college,  grad school or working.  They have grown into fine young men and women.  But with apologies to Dwight Oakes, who was their youth pastor far longer than I was, they are one of the great "What ifs?" of my ministry.  I think they could have easily become one of the great classes ever, a stone-cold lead pipe lock for my Hall of Fame.  If any of you are out there reading, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail and let me know what you are up to.  You were- and I am certain, still are- an amazing group of people.  It was hard to leave you...

Because of Jesus,