Just a little over a month ago, June 24th to be exact, I had the most wonderful, unexpected reunion and encounter, one day after my birthday, with a friend from 50 years ago named SHELTON STROMQUIST. He was a Freedom Worker here in Vicksburg in 1964, probably still 19, but barely 20 in any case. He was from a suburb of Chicago, and I was just getting ready to leave Chicago where I lived during the school term with my grandparents. I saw his name in the paper and decided I would try to contact his parents before I left to let them know that I was from Vicksburg, I was headed to Vicksburg, and I would look Shel up the minute I got to Vicksburg and tell him to call his parents. And I did. But afterwards, though, I didnt see Shel very much. But what I remember most vividly is the call I made to Mr. & Mrs. Stromquist the night before I left. It was a thoughtless thing I did, but I didnt realize at the time that when I introduced myself and told them where I was from, they would think something had happened to Shel. So I rushed to tell them it hadnt. But horrible things were happening here, and they were scared for their son, and I was too. During Freedom Summer, I saw little of Shel after Id found him the first time. He worked in the Delta a lot, I believe. And hed come just at the time James, Mickey, and Andrew went missing. So, 50 years later, he came home again, together with his lovely wife, Ann, who wanted to see this place where hed been and where hed been willing to give up his life. I was outside when they drove up, directly across from The Jacqueline House. There, he told me his name. And I reached out my arms to hold him and he held me. Later that afternoon, we re-united on my front porch with his good friends of 50 years, Johnny Ferguson and Henry Hunter who remembered and lived through those same horrors too. 50 years had come and gone. But oh what a day that was! Thanks, Shel, for everything! Love, yolande
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 22:06:48 +0000
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