Neighbor News
Reunions!
Reunions can be a fun way to reconnect with the past but must offer a connection to our present life in order to hold our interest.
I’ve never had any interest in attending school reunions before but this past Summer I attended one for my high school class. It was not an official reunion organized by the school, but an informal gathering at a local restaurant organized by some former classmates. My husband and I are in the unique position of having attended the same high school, graduating the same year. But back in the 1970’s, our high school was divided into two separate divisions: boy and girl. So we did not know each other in high school and this reunion was divided by men grouping together and the women chatting at another table.
Someone brought a yearbook with them and we all smiled when we saw how we looked back “in the day.” We reminisced about teachers and class trips that sprinkled us with sweet memories. But of course you can only linger in the past for so long before I became curious as to what my fellow classmates has been up to for the last 41 years! Yes, it had been that long since high school graduation!
The reason that I never attended any of my school reunions is that I wanted to leave my happy memories in the past. I saw no point in seeing how my classmates aged or finding out that some were no longer with us. I thought it would make me feel sad and somehow spoil the happiness of those memories. But I realize now that those memories can never be altered because they only exist in the past, forever unchanged.
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My fellow classmates have been attending these reunions for several years and although the numbers are dwindling, they would like to continue them. Part of the reason for the smaller attendance numbers is that most spouses no longer came. There was only one other couple besides my husband and I, who also were fellow graduates now married to one another. Spouses did not share the memories so they lost interest in the gatherings. What would make me continue to attend and perhaps bring back some of these spouses? Well, I believe a connection to our present lives would be necessary. I was able to find this connection with some of the “”girls.” We shared stories of our children and of divorces and assisting elderly parents. This connected my present life to these women from my past.
There will be another reunion planned for December and I will gladly attend.
