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27 Sep 1987 Dear Friends, I cannot believe it has been so long since we last corresponded. We think of you often. We thank God that we met you. I trust that you are still placing God as number one in your lives. The primary reason I am writing is that we are planning a Naples church reunion next summer and everyone hopes you will be able to come. We are really excited about this as I'll bet you will be. This weekend I have talked to several people who all say they wouldn't miss it for anything. This should be the greatest weekend in the year for Christian fellowship and encouragement. It will be really great to talk face to face about the latest news in our families. We are planning to keep everyone in our house. We think it will be big enough, even though it will be a bit crowded. We are setting aside the weekend of 17, 18, and 19 June 1988. We want everyone here before noon Saturday. We want everyone to stay at least through lunch Sunday. Of course, you are welcome in our home any time. (That means: come early, stay late if you like.) We need to hear from you soon whether you tentatively plan to come. Especially let us know if this is a bad date for you. We are doing fine here. The Lord continues to bless us with a fine, growing medical practice. Steven started kindergarten. Angelique is in the third grade. The kids are both doing well in school. Steven's biggest problem is learning to raise his hand before talking. Angelique took several Italian articles to school last week to show her class. I think she had to write a report about it, too. Jeannie is doing secretarial work on a volunteer basis at church about two days a week. She is also teaching a ladies' Bible class at church. Tell us about you. We look forward to hearing from you. God bless you all to the fullest measure of His grace. With all our love, Michael & Jeannie
30 March 1988
Dear Friends, We hope you are still planning to come in June. This should be a time for fun, fellowship, encouragement, and catching up. The kids will get to know each other again. It should be the highlight of the summer. The reunion is scheduled to begin Friday, 17 June. The festa will wind down Sunday afternoon. The Coles will be leaving town early Monday. We are still in the planning stages as far as what to do to fill the time. We are open to suggestions and solicit your opinions. We plan to cook out hamburgers Friday night. If it doesn't rain we will go to a big park for a picnic at noon Saturday. We plan to get Kentucky Fried Chicken for this. Saturday night we will have pasta. We hope John Sigle will lead us in a Bible study at 9 a.m. Sunday. At 10:00 we will leave for our local congregation for worship service. We plan to go to my favorite cafeteria for lunch Sunday. We are expecting the ERMANs, the ESPIRITUs, the JEFFERSONs, the SIGLEs, the WINFREEs, and the COLEs. The house is plenty big for everyone. We haven't yet figured out where everyone will sleep, but there will be enough "beds" for the adults. The kids will need to bring sleeping bags and pillows. We have a big yard to play in. It is not fenced in. Hopefully the kids will play outside. Your kids may want to bring an outside toy or two. As you know we have enough bathrooms to take care of fifty people. There are two and a half water heaters, so we shouldn't run out of hot water. We should have plenty of towels, etc. It will be a bit crowded and a lot like camping out, but we will surely have fun and excitement in spite of a few inconveniences. We hope no one will feel obligated to pay for anything more than lunch Saturday and lunch Sunday. And if you can't afford that, then come anyway. You will not find a better vacation deal anywhere. Please let us hear from you as soon as possible to know for sure you are coming. Also, as soon as you know what day and time you expect to get here, please let us know. We will send a map at least a week or so before the reunion. You are in our prayers. In Christian love, Michael & Jeannie
4 June 1988
Hello Everyone, Our entire family is looking forward to your coming. With less than 2 weeks away we want to let you in on a few last minute ideas and remind you of some old ones. In trying to plan this as simple, carefree, and fun as possible, please keep the following in mind.
We have nothing planned for Friday evening but visiting. Saturday about noon we will be going to Ben Geren Park for lunch, games, and playground, and more visiting. Saturday evening we want to have a time of reminiscing. We're not sure when we'll find time for bathing kids, sleeping, and other such essential things. We will have Sunday school class here as a group at 9:00 AM. We will leave shortly after 10:00 for Sunday morning service at our local congregation. Afterwards we will be going to a cafeteria (or democratic choice) for Sunday lunch. Then we will come home, separate yours from theirs and send everyone on their way. You will need the map even after you arrive here. The map shows how to get to the park and to church. God be with you. With love, the Coles 
18 June 1988 The following lines of text were placed on strips of paper. Each reunion attendee pulled one out of a basket at random and talked about whatever memories came to mind.
30 June 1988
Dear Friends, We had such a wonderful time while four families visited us during the weekend of our Naples church reunion. We all expected to have fun, but it was also a very spiritually uplifting time. The memories we share and all that we meant (and still mean) to each other were very special. There were 18 people in our house. It was a little like camping out. They came from Kansas City, San Antonio, Virginia, and northeast Indiana. Everyone cooperated beautifully and all shared in cooking and cleaning. The weekend was the highlight of the year for every one of us. We studied the Bible together, prayed and sang together. We planned for our eternal reunion in Heaven. I really enjoyed visiting with you on the phone last month. It was really good to hear your voice. Of all the people not at the reunion, you guys were the most missed. In His love, Michael |
