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2006-06-25 - 4:22 p.m. It's been a busy week in Lake Woebegone, my home town up on the prairie. Well, except that Lake Woebegone is not my home town. And my hometown is not on the prairie. And it's been considerably more than a week since I've last updated you on my life. I'm sure you're all aquiver with antici
Well, I'll pretend you are. It makes it so much more rewarding to write these little manuscripts if I think someone out there cares. My class reunion was last Saturday. Yes, only twenty years ago, I was set free from Madison Grant High School to embark upon that grand journey into the vast ocean of "real life". Some kids have golden life preservers for the trip, but my family wasn't name Rockefeller or Gates or Winfrey, so I was expected to make it on hard work, talent, or good looks. I went for talent. Hard work never fascinated me and good looks have evaded me for so long, I gave up trying. Some kids set off on the journey on a great ship called Opportunity. Scholarships to good schools bouyed by excellent grades and impressive extra-curricular activities. When I set off on my journey, all I was left was a little dingy. Twenty years have gone by now and I look back on the decades with a bit of pride. Some of my classmates became doctors. Many, it seems, became teachers. Several served our country. Me? I stayed out of jail. Yes, you take pride in what you can. I was somewhat amazed to find that my childhood friend CF had become a teacher in the very instituion we had escaped from. From which we had escaped? Yeah, that's better. CF had not only become a teacher, but seems to be passionate about teaching and about improving the lives of his students. Makes me wish he'd been my P.E. teacher when I was a kid. The reunion went well. Life stories were exchanged, beer was consumed, old friendships were rekindled, beer was consumed, photos were taken and of course, beer was consumed. It amazes me that people who never spoke to me in school were coming up to me like I was a long lost friend. It just goes to show that people do mature and change. I can honestly say that among the people who attended the reunion, the last two decades had done more good than harm. Sure, some of us (looks around with some guilt) have packed on a few more pounds than is healthy. Sure, the hair was thin throughout the room. But none of that mattered. For a few hours, were were all friends again, even those of us who had never been friends. Jocks hung out with nerds. Nerds toasted the preppies. For a short time, we were reminded of where we came from, of how far we had come, and of the fact that we were all pretty much in the same boat. I had truly not planned on going, but CF tracked me down and personally invited me. I'm glad that he did. When you lose touch with friends, sometimes it's a bit awkward to pick things back up. That night, there was very little of that. Hopefully, we won't let another twenty years go by. 
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