9.08.13

I attended my 30 year high school reunion last night- it was the first one I'd been to. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect- hopefully folks mostly milling around the bar, and I wasn't disappointed. (I don't think I or the guys that I showed up with strayed more than five feet from the bar the entire evening- small surprise.) Outside of maybe a half-dozen or so folks I probably hadn't seen most of them in thirty or so years; some I recognized instantly, others not so much- name tags are a good thing. Obviously we'd all aged in 30 years, some of us more than others; I believe we'd all had our share of ups and downs, successes and setbacks, opportunities and challenges, triumphs and tragedies, and have, or at last have tried, to make our way through them all.

A lot of the cliches about reunions seemed, to me at least, to be true. The passing of the years does tend to soften the rougher edges, the rivalries and romances and more, things that seemed so serious back then, are things we can laugh about now. The shared histories of growing up in the same town, attending the same school, do create a bond of sorts, a connectivity, one that, more often than not I failed to fully recognize and appreciate. Reconnecting is good; remembering the past (the good and the bad) while living in the present, sharing what has transpired in our lives over the years and what is going on today- marriages, divorces, children, careers, interests, and yeah, illnesses too- as well as remembering, and hopefully laughing about, our pasts, these are good things. I'm sure none of this is unique to the Oliver Ames Class of 1983.

I'd like to think the years- maturity maybe?- made me a little nicer and friendlier, less of a hardass, than I was back then (tho' I'm sure some folks probably thought "nah, Vito's still an asshole!") It was great to see and reconnect with so many truly wonderful people. I had an enjoyable time- thanks folks!