Friday night was like some sort of fun, strange, time-shift event. Jim and I got together with some of my old friends from high school, plus I got to meet a few new friends that I remembered only by name. Facebook reconnected us all, has kept us all in touch, and we laughed at how weird it felt to finally see each other face-to-face again. And even though it seemed a little strange at first, I don’t think anyone felt uncomfortable or out of place; we all just fell into our own groove and took our time catching up with each other. It was awesome.
As teenagers, I think we were all a little self-involved, if only by the fact that it’s the nature of youth. Though a few of us hung with each other back in the day, others were known to me simply by name or association – back then we weren’t all group, per se. Tim was always the artsy one, the ‘cool’ one; Kerry was always someone fun to be around; Jodell was artsy too, or quirky, for my lack of a better adjective. She would know the right words; Jodell, the author.
I was always hanging on the fringe of the “clique” enough to be invited to the parties but standoffish enough to never be considered one of them, never wanting to be one of them. I always reveled in my ‘oddness’, hence the possible reason that I still have a pierced nose and gained a tattoo and belly ring along the way.
Funny now to hear these present friends tell me that I was cool, I was fun back then. These, the kids that mostly went to grade school together, who had many memories created before and beyond my short time with them. I think it’s nice for anyone to hear that they are remembered.
So in one night, from as far as Texas and as close as Roscoe, we converged on the Rockton Inn and rekindled old friendships in person. We talked, we laughed, some of us even sang, and a few of us snapped some photographs. We introduced spouses, we reintroduced ourselves and we reminisced over food and drinks. Best of all, we got to see where we all are now – We spoke a little about our losses; loved ones passed on, and a little about our families both old and new, and how far we’ve come.
A group of us moved on to The Firehouse – a little quieter, a little more catching up; and then a full-on blitz at The Whiffle Tree; laughing, telling tales, a few more photographs. How to capture a moment in time when all you want is for time to temporarily stop?
In a few short hours though, we discovered a little more about ourselves and each other. To badly paraphrase The Breakfast Club, we discovered that we’re all cool, we’re all a little nuts, we’re all a little criminal. Best of all though, we discovered that we’re all still friends.
Thank you all for the distant memories and the lasting friendships. Peace and love to each and every one of you.
well put!!! : )