class reunion

Last Saturday my graduating high school class celebrated our 25th reunion. It's always like stepping into a time warp for me each time I visit my small hometown of Janesville.  In my mind, I'm seventeen again.  It's always a strange experience for me as I'm flooded with memories from my teenage years, both good and bad.  Most people, I think, have strong emotions attached to the years they spent in high school. For the most part, I loved high school. To this day, I have a lot of love and respect for many of the people that I shared that time with. Would I want to repeat that time in my life? Maybe.  Some of it.  Some of it I wish I could change. I'm grateful to be who I am today.  I'm grateful, that through introspection all these years later, that I've realized a couple of things.  First, because I was seventeen, insecure on a lot of levels, and focused mostly on myself, I probably missed out on getting to know some really good, interesting people. Second, I'm happy with who I am now.  As I talked with different people at our reunion, I was struck by one common theme. Maturity.This really great maturity that can only come through lots of years of trials, joys, sorrows, accomplishments, and reflection. I am so impressed, not so much with who we were as a graduating class, but with who we've become.

And where we're going.