6:58 p.m. - 2007-10-09
the Legend is alive... in our minds....
I gleaned the following from the 15th reunion of the LC Class of 1992. I learned other things, of course, but most are of interest only to me and my schoolmates. I'll spare you all the location jokes and give you these seven things instead. One or two might be useful information.
1. *Always carry the following things: cash, paper, pen, pictures of your children, and business cards.* Former classmates with kids will want to do the child picture comparison; you will want to exchange current contact information; and the cash bar... well, they mean cash. (booo) Luckily, I have friends who don't mind buying me beer.
2. *Stretch before turning cartwheels.* It doesn't matter how springy the sports turf feels--if you haven't done gymnastics in a while, you will need to stretch. Even for boring cartwheels. Do not be seduced into back flips, either. (I wasn't, but only because I'd already managed to strain my semimembranosus turning the cartwheels. I figured back flips would cause major injury.) My former RA jokingly called my acrobatics "Moms Gone Wild." We *all* know I would have done the same thing back then, too, though....
3. *There will be dirt that other people never knew.* This means that those stories you thought everyone had heard "back in the day" might not be common knowledge. Conveniently, I only know harmless stories like how Patch got that nickname.
4. *You will discover new things about your friends.* Trivia like "who wants to learn to sail," "who runs a radio station," and "whose company is hiring" are good things to learn. I learned lots of other new bits of trivia about my friends, but it would bore you. It was good to know we could still carry on random rambling conversations for hours on end, though.
5. *You will be reminded how fuzzy your memory can be.* When *did* Angry House burn down? I'm still not sure. And the memorial tree is almost as big as all the others now--I'm still not sure which one it was. The plaque might have been moved anyway....
6. *Despite the years gone by, your friends are still your friends.* Even the friends you thought were your frienemies.... If I don't see those guys for another 5 years, it's OK. In their own little ways, they helped make me who I am now--I was lucky to know them when I did. I am lucky to know them now. It is not a support network I utilize often, but it's there. One might call it an "alumni association" only without the annual pleas for cash. Buying a round for the gang, on the other hand....
7. *Anyone can go to school--the lucky ones get to go to college.* And it was worth every penny my parents spent.
