Class Reunions ARE For Everyone

As I look out my window today, it's another overcast morning in
Southern Indiana, with a dusting of snow on the ground, and a few
more flurries coming down. But that means we're only weeks away from
the season of class reunions and alumni banquets! If my old
calculator is correct, the classes of '69 and '74 will have a couple
of significant milestones coming up...as well as the half-century
mark for '59...and James Best, Corydon's best-known alumnus, will
have a 65-year reunion going on with his Class of 1944!

On a related note, when contacting some classmates about reunions, I
sometimes hear comments along the lines: "Well, those people [my
classmates] didn't care much for me when I was in school; why should
I care about getting together with them now?" And I think I have an
answer to that.

When I was in grade school and junior high, I was teased
unmercifully. Some kids did some downright mean things to me, and
some did them on a daily basis. If anyone who ever attended Corydon
schools ever had a right to make a comment like the one above, that
would be me. But as I've grown older, I'd like to think I've grown
up...at least a little. And as I've grown, I've learned that the
heaviest burden you can carry in life is a grudge.

Sure, some of the things I suffered in school at the hands of
classmates were indignities that nobody should have to suffer. But I
realize that the folks who did these things to me were ONLY KIDS then,
too. They've grown up, as I did, and many of them have suffered
through medical problems, business problems, marital problems, and
family tragedies that are way beyond any snubs any of us suffered in
school.

A little forgiveness goes a long way.

In fact, if I judged all class reunions by my class' 10-year reunion,
I probably wouldn't have returned to any others. At the 10-year
reunion, I felt like the primary purpose of many folks was to
say, "Look at me!!! Look at how fabulous my life is!!!" At the time,
I'd just been laid off from my job, and it was pretty much all I
could do to scrape together the spare money to go to the reunion, and I had SO little to brag about. But then, it's hard to look down on people--which is essentially what bragging is about--when you're near the bottom yourself.

But at the 20-year reunion, the atmosphere was totally different. It
wasn't about impressing folks, it was about getting to see old
friends again. It was less a game of "Look at ME!!!" and more a
spirit of "Good to see ya!" " How are ya?" " DAMN, you look old!" [OK, I
was kidding about that last one...but only a little]. Discovering
that our favorite high-school hottie had developed a pair of "thunder-
thighs", or that Miller Lite had made some of the jocks a little
more "well-rounded" than we'd imagined, took a back seat to catching
up on where life had taken us since graduation. We laughed, we
reminisced about toilet-papering the coach's house, talked about our kids, and we enjoyed the company of the folks who were the biggest part of our lives for 4, 8, or 12 or more years of our lives.

So, based upon my experiences, I just can't understand why anyone
would carry what's essentially a childhood grudge so far into
adulthood. If anyone had a reason to do so, it'd be me. But
then, I'd miss all the time spent with friends at these
reunions...friends who were having just as hard a time as I was, in
different ways, in figuring out how to get through school, and life,
on a daily basis. I'll admit I made my share of mistakes growing up;
and it would be simply wrong of me not to allow for, and in these
days overlook, the mistakes of those who shared a gym class or a
study hall or a math class with me.

After all, we're only human, and life's too short to carry grudges.

So when you have the chance, GO to your class reunion. Chances are, the
folks you thought were jerks have probably gotten a lot wiser, and a
bit more mellow, over the years. And maybe you'll discover that you
have, too. And if you get the chance to dance to the music of your
era, and sing along with the records or CD's, sing as loud as you
can, and dance the way you wanna dance. People will remember what
you DID a lot longer than they'll remember what you DIDN'T do...and
as my great aunt always said, nobody ever built a statue of someone
for what he DIDN'T do.

So go to that reunion...be yourself...and get to know the people your
classmates are TODAY. You'll be surprised at how the conversations
seldom touch on how big someone's house is, or how many cars they
have, or how important their job is. But there'll be a lot of
demonstrations of how important their FRIENDS are. Stop carrying that grudge; lay down that burden; throw away that anchor that's been holding YOU back, but doing so little to the "intended" victims!!!

Go ahead and go to that class reunion...I promise it'll be worth it.