Time

The old saying of time flies is true. Donnice and I just returned from my 50th high school reunion in Canyon, TX. The last reunion I attended was at the 10 year mark and I pretty much swore to never go to another as some of the high school personalities and clicks were still too prevalent. The group of guys that formed my nexus continued to get together every few years in that half century and that was good enough for me. Time passes and some of those anxieties calm such that I decided to go to this 50th (while encouraged by a couple of close friends deep in the organizing of the event). I'm glad I did. Somewhere around 45 classmates attended out of a graduating class of 180 or so. The total attendance was around 80.

Sometimes you don't realize that you made any difference to anyone else until you run across someone that you had not seen in 50 years and had little interaction prior to that. Stories get brought up that I had forgotten and you realize you played a bigger role than you thought. The same is true from the other side as I realized many of these people played a more significant role in my life than I gave credit. This reunion was a bit of a healing experience for some misplaced resentment of some of the social circles of high school. Maturity and time gives all of us a more healthy perspective on life. One of the most interesting things I noticed was hardly a conversation about how well someone did or similar one-up bragging. At most, there may have been some mention of what line of work they had been performing and location.

This class size was just about right. It was large enough to provide a reasonable cross-section of personalities and interests yet small enough that most of us had some level of knowledge of the others. I don't think this togetherness or bond is possible in the massive high schools I see today.

A lasting impression is the two tables full of pictures of classmates that had passed (and there were more that we had not heard about until Saturday night). Around 20% of our class is no longer with us. If that does not provide a sober perspective, I don't know what makes you tick. It is very likely that I will never run into most of these people again as I return to my longtime circle of friends while living 500+ miles from most classmates. That lack of contact is no longer because of ill feelings but rather just a matter of time and paths not likely to cross again.

I am fortunate.

Thanks,

Doug White

https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/