This April my 50th high school reunion will take place in Chicago. I’ve not attended any of my reunions before, not grammar school, high school or college. For some reason I wasn’t interested in revisiting my past.
We’ve been a moving family. Bernie and I have lived in eight different locations during our 46 years together. Most of those years were spent in places distant from Chicago. During the child raising years it never seemed like there was enough time or money to travel back home except to visit family. That is, of course, a priority issue. There are people who never miss their reunions. Connecting with old friends is part of what makes their lives rich.
In addition to reconnecting with old friends, reunions can be a way of keeping in touch with a time when life was fun with fewer responsibilities and complications. Of course many of us suffer from nostalgia which is looking at the past through rose colored glasses.
For some remembering pain is what keeps them from revisiting old places. I think that is true for me. But I’ve gone through some changes in the recent years and I am realizing that my memories were scewed by a few unfortunate experiences. Now I am curious to revisit my past and take a look at people and events with new eyes. It feels like I was barely present in my high school years. Perhaps old friends will be able to help me figure out who I was back then.