Sunday, January 22, 2012

Day 21: The Revelations of Reuniting

No doubt some of you will notice that I am writing "Day 21" on "Day 22." I debated about just skipping "Day 21" altogether but I wanted to write about it so I am doing it now. Hey, it's my blog so there are no rules or, if there are, I can just make them up as I go along!

Aside from working on the book, writing a column and doing chores, I was out last night and when I got home was just too tired to write.

Yep, I actually went out on a Saturday night, something I haven't done in ages. So, where did I go? I had a "mini" reunion dinner with some of my friends from junior high and high school.

Since our 30th high school reunion a couple of years ago, it is something we have been doing more frequently and thanks to the power of social networking, i.e., Facebook, it has become so much easier to do. I am still thinking of a way to include more people because we are not an "exclusive" club and would love for any of our old friends to join us. So, I will work on how to do that for the next time.

It was great to see my friends and to catch up and to pick up where we left off. It is almost as if time stands still when we get together. But, as we discussed, it hasn't and we are all on the brink of turning 50, except for one youngster who is "only" turning 49 on Tuesday (happy birthday again Mich)!

When we were talking and filling each other in on the latest news in our lives, I was also remembering how we were when we were younger. These were the girls I spent every day with, having lunch with them on the quad, sharing stories of heartbreak and love, spending hours at drill team practice and football games with, and going out with after football games. I couldn't help but think how much time really has passed and how it seems to have done so in the blink of an eye.

Instead of bitching about how hard that routine is, or how out of it our English teacher is, we were talking about things that happen to everyone if they live long enough: losing parents and other loved ones, losing jobs, getting sick, raising kids, and even (gulp) having grandchildren. Some of us are single and have never been married, some of us are on second marriages, some are engaged, some are happily married and some are struggling  to stay happily married.

For me, hearing: "I never thought I'd be at this point or going through this at this stage of my life," was eye-opening because it was used to describe both the good and the bad things that were happening for people.

It just made the reality of turning 50 even stronger. We all have problems, we all have good things happen, it is just life. I am just glad to have old friends to share it with.

Shelly, Judi & Mary, Northridge Jr. High Graduation, 1977



Cleveland High Drill Team photo 1979-1980

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