This past weekend I saw some friends from my teen years that
I hadn’t seen in almost forty years—thirty-eight to be exact. Growing up in Uruguay, I graduated with ten
other students but was a part of a high school body of around fifty. We were from all over the world including
Israel, Korea, Brazil and the United States.
Every few years now students from
the late 70’s and early 80’s get together for a reunion. This was my first one so I wanted to share
with you three things I truly enjoyed from our time together.
I really enjoyed hearing the life stories and what had happened to
people over the last few decades.
My best friend in high school was a man named David and we got to spend
a few hours Saturday afternoon catching up thirty-eight years. Two hours later, after meeting his wife and
hearing about his two sons and one grandson born that very day, I had a better
picture of what happened after we left Uruguay.
What I still can’t figure out is why we let our friendship slip away all
those years ago.
I heard some joy-filled stories of life blessings. Children who had done well, careers that had
flourished. But I heard some sad ones as
well-- one of my friends had lost their
spouse in death, early and unexpectedly. Another had lost a job she had held for thirty years. So it was a lot to take in, and obviously it was a bit superficial, but
what I learned seemed to shrink the years between then and now.
I really enjoyed reminiscing about the past. It’s hard to believe all the memories that
are jarred loose by seeing friends from one’s early years. Friday night Lauri spent some time reading to us
from the UAS high school newspapers. She
even had a sign-up sheet from the school prom and there was my name scribbled
in my poor penmanship-- I know that list was every bit of forty years old.
I was reminded of how seniors Geoff, Jay, Tony and Casey would whoop
up on us freshmen in basketball. Geoff
seemed to have memories of me being good, which I was glad to hear, but he’s
older than me and I think on that one his memory is a bit off. I tried hard but that’s really different than
being good!
We remembered teachers who poured into us, taught us and
encouraged us. Mary, Rosario, Juanita,
Joe and Don just to name of few. “Do you
remember…” was a common phrase I heard throughout the evening.
There was one more thing I really enjoyed. It’s hard to put into words but I truly appreciated
the bond I shared with these friends because of the years we spent together in
our adopted country. As an
American growing up in a different land, we experienced and received so
much. We’re bilingual and
bicultural. We fit in here and we fit in
there. That experience of life in Latin
America bonded our hearts together in a way I don’t know how to explain unless
you’ve experienced it. The truth is we
are all so different. We have different
jobs, live in different states, and have different worldviews but there is a
bond we share that will never go away and in some way knits our hearts
together. From the moment I first saw
Randy on Friday evening until I said good night to everyone on Saturday, I
relished in that bond we share.
Thank you Lauri for putting this together and for inviting
me. Maybe in a few years we can do it
again.
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