Four Reunions . . . and a Funeral?
I have just endured a gauntlet that was like living in a whirlwind. From April 25 – June 1 I attended four reunions! It seems impossible for a little old lady. I was worried that the 5th event would be a funeral due too much partying and excessive weight gain!
It all started with my 50th college reunion. Of course I was on the planning committee—I never plan or truly solicit this honor, but somehow I always end up on a committee. But a little advice if you will, JOIN the planning committee, as it will keep you informed, make you a true part of things and refresh old friendships. When I attended college I was one of those outsiders known as “day students” and we mainly hung out in a group to ourselves—that was all we had time for. But I worked two different jobs over a period of years at my alma mater and ended up on the Alumnae Board—that was fun. I made friendships outside just my classmates.
So when my 50th rolled around how could I think of missing it?! As an only child my husband and I tried to make friends and keep them. I have best friends of 67 years, 63 years, 58 years and 45 years. See, we never let our friends escape, and that, dear reader, is a clever ploy. You will never be alone.
The college reunion saw a visit to my home from a friend I have had since 3rd grade, and another I have known since 8th grade. We had a good time, and the gathering of our large college class was just as much fun. At 70+ we had all learned a lot, and it was not something one can learn from books.
That was followed by an impromptu high school reunion. A couple of classmates decided the “girls” needed to get together more often and invited whoever was local and most likely to be able to make the event. The same held true here—high school was far away and we were women now. Not young girls vying for dates, or worried about popularity or becoming prom queen. We were now mothers and grandmothers, shaped by years of our professions, raising our children, negotiating our relationships and so on. In other words, we were much smarter than in 1965. It was a great time and we plan to do it again. (And that’s this fall before our official—drum roll, please—55th high school reunion!)
Reunion #3 was one of the sweetest. It was a reunion of friends of the family—better known as the "train gang." Yep, friends my husband and I used to ride the rails with when we took excursions on real live steam engines. We adopted that group of traveling friends and they used to come weekly to our house for coffee, brownies and talk until the wee hours. We had to amend our meetings when we all got bigger jobs, families and took on more life responsibilities. But we stayed friends and they supported my husband in his illness. I shall never forget them. So, I initiated this recent reunion event with much help from a couple of cohorts. It was a blast, it was a dear gathering that made an indelible memory.
And finally, this whirlwind ended with my church homecoming event—the day after the train gang’s gathering. I had just joined this church about 13 years ago, but still had yet another group of close friends there. Through the years these people have discussed the Bible with me, put me on yet another committee (I don’t mind), cooked for me and mine when my husband will ill, and were there to hold my hand when I faced my spouse’s death.
Do you see a theme? It is simply this: make friends, they will sustain you all the days of your life. But it must not be one sided, you must do your part. You must show up, discuss, serve and hold hands. It is not a selfish thing to do, it is a survival move—we all need others in our lives.
My Sunday School teacher said a few weeks ago that if we had ONE true friend in life we were lucky. I have a group of them. This is not because of any wonderful thing I have done. It is because of God’s blessing. If I was to survive once my parents and spouse died I would need friends. God sent them in the form of my child and her spouse, my grandchild, and even more ministering angels--from college, from high school, from life, from church. God provides.