Reunions

I spent the last year, along with a former classmate and friend, planning and organizing our 20 year high school reunion. What fun!! I called many old classmates, sent letters, searched for people online and even talked to a few parents still living with the same telephone number as was on file from 20 yrs ago.  

Twenty years is a crazy amount of time.. half our life, in essence. In that twenty years I have classmates who are all over the board, demographically speaking. We have sadly lost 12 classmates, starting with one while we were in middle school and going all the way through just a few months ago being the most recent. Some classmates are parents for the first time this last year, while others are already grandparents. Some are completing their PhD's while others have decided to go on to higher education for the first time. Some are reinventing themselves in new careers, while others literally are retiring from military service. We have classmates who are celebrating 10 plus years of sobriety, while others are beginning their journey.  Some are getting married for the first time, others (myself included) are on their 2nd or 3rd marriage. 

Regardless of where we are in life, we really have some common threads that run through all our lives. The major thread happens to be that we all shared the experience of the same high school at the same time. We celebrated the same basketball, and football team, the same homecoming queen, and the same spirit stick. We all recall when our school developed their first girls soccer team We remember the same teachers and their crazy antics. We recall the same wisdom imparted by faculty who put so much into each of our lives. We walked the same halls at the same time and rubbed shoulders with the same peers.  Those experiences both positive and negative, helped define who we all became. 

Families tend to be the same way. Very different people who, depending on the relationship, in essence came from a similar background. My family is no different. (Most of which I will leave for another blog) My father and step-mom, Grandma and Uncle live in Florida; while my sister and I live in Michigan. My one paternal side cousin lives in Ohio. We are a small family. That's really all there are of us. I suppose there are distant relatives of sorts, but in reality, when it comes to who we know.. that's it. Since my sister was raised with her mom and our dad for the first few years of her life, after her parents split, we didn't really have time together. And to be honest, she and I didn't see each other again until about six years or so ago. Then again, 2 years ago she and my dad surprised me on my wedding day. My cousin and I got together after almost 20 yrs, last year for the first time. My dad and I see each other at least once a year, and speak quite regularly. These experiences have contributed to who we all are as well. Needless to say, we could use some decent family time. 

This Saturday we will get that chance. I have jokingly said, not sure how you can have a "REunion" without having first been "Unioned".  Although my Grandma and Uncle will not be sharing this experience with us, this will be without a doubt one of the largest gathering of Newtons in probably 30 years. My dad hasn't had the experience of both his children, grand children and nephew (and family) being together.. EVER. So if all goes as planned... I am not sure Cedar Point is prepared to handle what is about to come their way! Ha!