Fifteen Years

Tomorrow night we will gather at the wonderful school that in so many ways made us who we are. We will fumble through hellos awkward and artificial and authentic. We will fidget in corners and look around, glimpsing faces both familiar and foreign. We will clutch sweating glasses and bemused spouses, reminiscing and remembering. Remembering who we were fifteen years ago when we were less wrinkled and worried and worldly.

Fifteen years ago. When we donned caps and gowns and bright teenage smiles. When college, that exquisite wonderland, loomed large on the landscape of our collective cosmos. Much has happened in all these years. Parents have been lost. Commitments have been made and marred. Babies have been born. We will talk about these things, I imagine. Or maybe we won't. Maybe we will just dance around the big things and take refuge in small talk. I hope not though. I hope that amid the inevitable air kisses and the swirl of superficiality, there will be some real sentences bartered, some real heart displayed, some true memories unearthed. We will see.

Fifteen years. What a long, short time it's been.

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Any advice for me as I head to my fifteen year high school reunion? Do you think it makes sense that I am at once anxious and invigorated to see so many people from my past? Do you enjoy attending reunions? Do you ever hope that real conversations will manifest in situations that are particularly prime for idle chat?