The 1968 graduating class from Natural Bridge High School held several reunions. I never ventured back until the one held in 2001—or 2002, I can’t remember. Nor can I remember my reasons for attending. Once again, a class reunion is planned—for Labor Day weekend 2009. Why am I planning to attend?
1. I never thought I’d live to be old—past 30, that is—and I want to see who else is surprised at still being alive.
2. Talk with others who experienced the same place long ago and far away that no longer exists. A high school with 400 students grades 8-12. No air-conditioning. No art classes. No sass to teachers and no messing up. Did they have the same or different experience as I, even though we were in the same time-space continuum? How did those experiences shape their lives?
3. Encounter my frenemies from that era and determine their current attitudes about themselves, the world and me.
4. Be amazed at how many of my classmates remained in the same geographic area.
5. Explore the influences from those years that shaped me into the being I am now.
6. To rejoice in myself. I survived; and to celebrate with other survivors.
