I have been a student of school reunions for some time now. My interest comes from having emcee'd our local Alumni Banquet since the beginning of time. Some general rules are:
1.the ten year class will buy tickets to the banquet and may or may not, show up. That party they were at, instead of the banquet, may or may not be written up in the local paper the next week.
2. The twenty five year class can still remember who the jerks were in high school. They also are pre-occupied with bragging about their kids.
3. The thirty, forty, fifty, and sixty year classes are the ones who have a good time.
My Bride and I attended our thirty-five year college reunion from the college we attended, this past weekend. It was a delight to get to sit down and talk to some good friends we haven't seen for a while.
Thirty five years out of college is enough to realize that life can be tough. We all realize how tentative life is. How disappointing it can be. How in the grand scheme of things, we're all pretty insignificant. We have our field of vision narrowed a bit. No, we have it narrowed a lot, which is good. We didn't have time for flowers, and Grandkids, friends, and reunions before. We have finally learned what really takes our breath away. Things like unexpected phone calls from family members and friends. Calls for no reason except to 'catch up'. Laughing out loud just because you heard a child laugh. Sentences like "Mom,Dad, we're getting married", or "Are you going to be home this weekend"?
Well, thanks to all the classmates who came. And to all who let me 'think' my 'entertainment' was good, on Saturday nite. It wasn't as good as getting in a good visit with you. Let's do it again soon. Don't forget the old saying, "Life isn't measured by the number of breaths you take, it's measured by the moments that take your breath away".