We never really had this type of reunion. I thought it was important we celebrate those graduates.

With these kids now, there's so much now that they can get into trouble with. There's so much more traffic in Gulf Breeze, and it's tough for the kids because they really have no place to go to celebrate their graduation.

We have a strong culture base with food, using it to celebrate weddings, birthdays, graduations and holidays.

Dean graduated from California two years ago and went into the Army, ... He's overseas now, and some of my other friends also have joined the military. My mother also got me interested by showing me pictures on the Internet of our soldiers and the conditions in which they are living in the Middle East. Their homes, in many cases, are in ditches and in the sand. I also learned that they really are in need of some of the basic day-to-day items most of us might take for granted, so I thought that would be the most useful thing to pursue.

Restraint is very important when one graduates,

I never thought I'd be able to catch back up, but I'll be able to walk (at graduation) with the rest of my class.