Sunday night, after the reunion, I got my yearbook out before I went to bed. I was still basking in the afterglow of one of the best get togethers I think I have ever experienced with my classmates. The exception for that may have been the night Susan (Flanigan) and I went to the Limerick diner after a reunion. We sat there until the wee hours of the morning reflecting on our lives then and now. You see Sue and I were connected from the time I started kindergarten at Spring City Elementary school until our senior year. I think maybe even a bit after that as well. She was one of my "on again and off again" girlfriends - sometimes she was my girlfriend and other times she was my girlfriend. Like so many of our age we balanced back and forth on the high wire of friendships and relationships trying desperately not to fall off and land on our faces. Over the years Sue and I had some very serious conversations about life - both hers and mine.
This reunion was different. I think it was different for all of us, but it was especially different for me. My high school experience was not really all that wonderful. I guess some of that was my fault - I mean in the mid 70's being a male baton twirler was a kin to wearing a neon sign on your forehead that said "I need to be bullied." I had some friends - sure - Priscilla and Rob were my lunch buddies everyday. I was friendly with students in my classes like Pam, Mel, Eileen, Kathy, Ellen Beth, Amy, Lora, and of course others. I remember being grateful that I survived high school and more grateful to leave it behind for good. When I went to college (finally), I attend a small Christian Liberal Arts school on the mainline of Philadelphia called Eastern College (University). By this time I had become a Christian and wanted to provide support to teenagers that I felt I lacked when I was a messed up high school student. At Eastern I found acceptance that I had never felt at my high school.
Life moved on and I had to learn to move with it. I moved to Florida, Boyertown, Philadelphia, Virginia, West Chester, Texas, and Lancaster. This was from the time I graduated high school until now. From each of those experiences I learned something new about myself that made me more the person I was slowly becoming.
More years passed and age was creeping up. My mortality was becoming a reality and not a distant thought. I was not going to live forever, I was not going to be 20, 30, 40 forever.
Suddenly, thanks to the advent of social media - many of us were getting connected again. Because we all had our own personal epiphanies in life, we became wiser. Now some of that no doubt has to do with the fact that with each passing year we get closer to leaving this mortal coil we call earth. We have to make up for the time we may have lost because we did not know who we were in high school and now we have a better idea. We have become tolerant, caring, understanding people. Many have been married (some more than once) and have children. We learn - we grow. Suddenly it seemed like the right time to rekindle old friendships and maybe risk making some new ones to get to know the people we went to school with that were not in our social circles. Our world views are broader now allowing us to view people with an open mind that we did not have the maturity to do in high school.
So there I was - pouring through my yearbook and reading the quotes or thoughts we left about our plans for after high school. We came to find out that some of us did not like those plans, found other interests, tried a variety of things and some even achieved the goals we set for our lives when we graduated. Yes we all had our personal struggles on the road that is life. I wondered what had happened to many of my classmates; the ones that I felt had some affect on my life and who influenced me and who I had become. Many of these people were not at the reunion. I attempted to find some on Facebook that night, but many of them would require more searching than a quick look.
As the dust continues settle from what has been deemed a truly magical night, and their are plans in the works for another around the holidays; I have to wonder how this will all work. We want to nurture these new friendships. I hope that we all do. I wonder if in a few weeks from now - once the dust has really settled and life begins to go on again, will we be able to nurture those relationships just made? I hope so because Saturday night, as I said, for me was one of the very best high school reunion experience I have ever had. The authenticity of my classmates and the topics we discussed really made me go back to my year book and wonder - wonder what it might have been like had we not all been so confused about who we were - and enjoyed and celebrated our differences and struggles. Even if we are unable to sustain this momentum that we have found, my life is so much richer because I dared myself a rare experience in life, that is to reconnect to those with whom I shared 6 - 12 of years of my life. I came with anticipation and an open mind. I decided that if I was not having fun I would make my excuses and leave. Instead I was one of the last to leave and was prompted to get out my yearbook to think about how much I really missed some of the people who did not attend. Our lives are clearly made richer by those that pass through it.
I hope our next "reunion" makes my life richer than it was Saturday night.
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