Unfortunately our human bodily lives to have "limits" on them. Oh, some are much longer than others for sure, but all eventually succumb to time.
I am reminded of this today as I received an invitation to my 50th High School Class Reunion. Yep, fifty years! Can I really be that old?
As I looked over the names at the bottom of the list who are on the committee for the reunion, all of them are very familiar to me....most I haven't seen in the past fifty years.
Living in Florida, then Georgia and now in Utah, I have been quite far away from my original "stomping grounds" for quite some time now. I have managed to visit a few times, but it has probably been about 15 years since I was last in Maryland. It will be interesting to say the least re-connecting with the people I knew all those years ago. It will be fun to see how many actually show up to the reunion, as we are scattered all over the country at this point. It seems that most people now don't stay in the State much less the City where they were born and raised.
I venture to say that the little hamlet where I actually grew up has changed least of all. It is such a small place at a dead end peninsula on the Potomac. Not much had changed when I was back there 15 years ago. There are plenty of fond memories there, and some not so good as well. I can't even imagine having spent my entire lifetime there. I think I knew even as a child that I would not. I had always wanted to see other States and Countries, and I have been blessed to be able to do so. Sometimes I feel like I have lived several lifetimes in the last fifty years. I have traveled a lot, worked many jobs, had many children and grandchildren, and now here I am in Utah living in the Rocky Mountains - the absolute LAST place I would have dreamed I would end up! Life certainly has taken some twists and turns along the way. I don't regret any of them.
I have heard some people say they wish they could go back to High School. Not me. I don't think I have ever wished that. Oh, it isn't that it was bad or anything. I just knew that there was a huge world full of interesting people out there that I wanted to get to know. I have always been a person who looked forward to each new day seeking new adventures. From traveling the world, to snowshoeing, to Paddle Boarding I have always been unafraid to try something new. Tomorrow I plan to travel up the mountain to Snowbasin and try my hand at downhill skiing for the first time. I will have an instructor, and there is plenty of fresh powder to fall on so I shouldn't get too many bruises!
I am looking forward to going back to Maryland for the Reunion. I have lots of cousins still living there that it will be fun to see. I have friends there that I haven't seen in 50 years and I am looking forward to reconnecting with some of them too! I want to walk the halls of the old Lackey High School and remember...just remember. So much happened when we were students there, including the assassination of President Kennedy. I will never forget sitting in my tenth grade class that day. I'll bet neither have any of my classmates.
Life is so different now. No more manual typewriters, not even Selectrics! Wow, I wonder what we would have thought if we could have seen fifty years into the future? We lived in the Viet Nam era, our parents in WW II, and now - well now it seems the whole world is at war in one way or another. I hope the next fifty years prove to be more peaceful than the last fifty. I pray that there is some hope of growth into a more peaceful world.
For now, I am looking forward to sharing stories with my classmates from the past.
PEACE, LOVE & JOY
Linda
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