Half a Century Reunion

I have not yet heard, but I suspect my fellow alums and I will celebrate our 50th high school reunion sometime this summer. My first thought is, "Egad, we can't be that old!" Almost worse is realizing I've been out of college for 46 years. Where did the time go? I may be 60-something, but I'm still just a kid inside.

At our last reunion 10 years ago, I told my fellow classmates I wanted to be a published author. Been there, done that − I'm still writing and now editing with some nice credits. I also wanted to see my sons settled both professionally and in their personal lives. That too has been accomplished with Chris finding Erin and becoming a quality engineer, and Ryan finding Katie as he transitions over the next couple of years from an emergency department RN to become a Nurse Practioner. This is all especially important to me because I promised my dear, late husband that I would do all I could to encourage our sons to complete their educations and find their way to a good life.

During this last decade, I have also anxiously awaited and hoped to become a grandparent. That's no surprise to anyone who knows me, and this year Chris and Erin blessed me with the cutest little grandson I could ever have imagined. He joins my adorable grand-dog Dan, and cute new grand-puppy Bernard. More things to check off my bucket list.

There are many other little positive endeavors along with some bigger ones for which I await the outcome, but I realize none of this would have been possible without divine inspiration and faith. After losing my soulmate, best friend, and husband before the last high school reunion, I could never have guessed these things might come to pass.

Even with accomplishments since the last get-together, and so many years having come and gone since high school, I'd like to think I've become a better human being. I'd also say most of that is because of my beliefs, and with help from above to make lemonade out of lemons.

While I'm sure we will exchange updates as to what we've been up to for the last 50 years (assuming the reunion actually happens), it's really who we've become that's most important. In another 50 years, most of our names will be forgotten. But real legacies aren't made from the things a person  accomplished from a bucket list, but rather by the person who did something to make a positive difference in whatever they did. It's that legacy my classmates have been working on that I'm eager to know.