Earlier this month, Nina and I attended the 50th reunion of my high school class. Amazing to be able to state that as a fact. I used to think 30 years old was ancient. And going to a reunion? That wasn't the way I rolled!
The only ones I had attended were the 40th and 45th. This one was a milestone. Fifty frickin' years since I was a shy nerd who was good at sports; I had started working at 14 and was a budding hippie, so I was never in the thick of the social scene.
It was good to be at this reunion. Why?
- To connect with people who I had been close with.
Francis and I had grown up on the same street when we were in primary school. I remember watching the movie "The Crawling Eye" with him, over and over for an entire weekend. Fortunately, he remembered doing that, too!
Mike and I had spent a lot of time together in our junior and senior years. He and I took our dates to the senior prom together—in a somewhat unconventional way but that is another story.
- To learn about how people who I had not been close with had lived their lives.
The high school quarterback and a popular girl got married. He became a physical education teacher and she became a teacher, bother at the same school we all attended.
- To share stories.
Nina and I—we attended the same high school three years apart—were among those who had left town searching for the promised land and having things work out pretty well.
Most of you reading this are nowhere near your 50th high school reunion. You are busy running a business and likely raising a family. Stuff happens, good and bad, and time goes by.
Often it goes by without you noticing. Take it from me: the older you become, the faster time goes by.
Pay attention. Make choices. Avoid having circumstances make choices for you. Slow down periodically and look forward. Live with intention.
All aspects of your life will benefit from you doing so. And look forward to looking back at your 50th reunion!
