It was a cool night....about 59 degrees. As different ones began to arrive, laughter and talk filled the air. There were hugs and handshakes and exchanges of pleasantries. I sat under the arbor that leads into the yard of Oakhill Plantation armed with printed name tags and blank ones for guests. No one was supposed to get by me without being tagged and numbered for a later event that would include the gifts we had for all attendees. As cars parked and attendees got out and made their way toward me, I did my best to recognize who they were and be ready to give them their correct tag. Some were easy....some not so much. After all, this was the first time I had seen some of them in the 45 years since we had graduated!
To me, class reunions are a fun time. They serve a purpose in life, just as family reunions, church homecomings and such. That's why several years before, there were three or four of us who decided we would make sure our class had a reunion at designated periods of time until we all eventually faded away. If you look back at the years of time spent together during a required period of education, you come to realize just how much time you spent with these people who became like a family to you. For some, these were happy years. For others, years they would rather forget. But, either way, we decided there should be the opportunity for those who wanted to participate to come together periodically to catch up on each others lives and keep in touch with those with whom we spent a lot of our life.
We had sent out 129 invitations......we had only 21 actual classmates attend. We were statistically close to the norm - which is about 20%. But, we were disappointed that we didn't have more. However, there were extenuating circumstances. Several illnesses that could not have been foreseen and several last minute family obligations. Those should always be expected because life happens - not matter how much work went into the planning and execution of a reunion.
Those of us who did attend had a very good time. We laughed and ate and socialized with our 60's and 70's music playing softly in the background. We remembered the ones who were no longer among our number because of death and talked about those that we knew that had chronic illnesses and were not able to attend. We signed a book for a class member who has an illness that will take his life soon so he would know how much he was missed. He had been one of our regulars and always been such a joy to be around....we all really missed him and it made us realize all to clear how life can be cut short at any time and there may not be those opportunities to see each other again.
Each time we have had one of these over the last few years, we have had people come who were not there before. I think slowly but surely we are realizing that it's not where you live, how big your house is, how much money you make or whether you can still wear your clothes from high school that matter anymore. It's that these are friendships that were bonded during formative years of our lives and so will always be special to us.
I think my husband said it best after the reunion was over. He said "you build up your anticipation and excitement about seeing those you haven't seen in a while, you come and have a wonderful time and then, before you know it, it's over. And, then you experience a sort of let down. Nobody wants to say goodbye. Because you don't know if this may be the last time......it's a sadness in a way. But, also a satisfaction....because if tomorrow never comes, you will still have the memories of today.......".
2020.....that will be our next opportunity.....our 50th reunion. Until then, may God watch over us all till we can gather again......
