My 20th high school reunion was this past weekend. I loved seeing old friends and catching up, but the highlight was definitely the unoffical reunion of my elementary and middle school friends. Eleven of us graduated eighth grade together (yes we had an 8th grade graduation)...and over the last 24 years our lives have intersected in all sorts of surprising ways. Weddings, babies, funerals for most of my life at least one or two of that group were a part of them.
But it has been a long time since so many of us were in one place at one time. When I was a kid and I'd go to sleepover I'd want to stay awake as long as possible so I didn't miss one second with my friends. Then when everyone went home and the junkfood high had worn off I'd cry because it was over. That's how the last three days were for me.
I didn't know you could miss someone so much only when you'd found them. We laughed until I hurt, and I wanted to take them all home with me so I could remember everything about each of them, and how all of them shaped who I was and who I grew up to be.
Snehal taught me that patience and generosity are the source of real beauty...Andrea taught me to stand up for myself (even in graduate school she was helping me do that)...if you can be a genteleman at 11 years old Kareem was and he still is....Jen Mat helps me remember what I didn't know I forgot...and Ray taught me family is not always about who you're born to. I love them all.
I can only hope Robert and Ethan will find friends who mean so much to them.
