I attended my 35 year high school class reunion last Saturday evening.
I had never been back to any of my other class reunions. We’ve always lived too far away to make the trip back to Michigan when they happened.
But this time, it worked. I was in Michigan to attend the Breathe Christian Writers Conference (also a reunion, of sorts, as I reconnected with the writer friends I’ve made over the years) and my class reunion was at a restaurant right down the street from my conference, starting right after the conference ended. Perfect!
I have to admit, I got a little nervous before that night.
Would I revert back to the way-too-quiet, insecure teenager I was back then? Would my classmates be interested in who I was now, or would they only remember the awkward, skinny kid I was back then? (And would they comment on how I was no longer skinny?) 🙂
I shouldn’t have worried.
As soon as I got there, I met up with two good friends. It felt comfortable to walk into the reunion with someone by my side. We ate a delicious meal together and caught up on each other’s lives.
Some people (like us) sat in one spot most of the night. Others worked the room and visited as many people as they could. We got up and took a group picture (not the best lighting, but we tried) and then got some pictures of smaller groups of friends with our 1984 State Basketball Finalist Banner in the background.
There was quite a bit of whispering and pointing. You could see it going on all around the room. Who’s that? Oh! Now I recognize them!
There were a few people I had absolutely no recollection of. We must have run in different circles and seldom crossed paths. There were some that I knew, but didn’t get a chance to talk to, and there were others that I probably hadn’t connected with in high school, but we had a good conversation on Saturday night. I pushed myself and moved around to visit with some former classmates, especially some who attended East Elementary School with me.
We all paused by the display of the classmates we’ve lost over the years. We found out about some people who couldn’t make it to the reunion, but the committee knew where they were now. We asked about others and had to be content to not know where they are.
We ate cake.
I was surprised at how comfortable it felt to be with all of these people I’ve hardly seen in 35 years. Before I went, I thought maybe I’d stay til 9/9:30 and then head for my sister’s house for the night. But no, I hardly wanted to leave after 11 when I caught a ride back to my car with the two friends I had arrived with.
It felt good just to be in the same room with these people I had shared life with so long ago. So many memories came flooding back: classes and teachers and walks home from school and football and basketball games and slumber parties and movies at Studio 28. I wished I could sit down with each person and find out what they had been doing since high school. I caught bits and pieces, of course. I heard about families and jobs and saw pictures of cute grandkids, but I wanted to know more. What dreams had they chased (and caught)? What disappointments and trials had they endured?
But there wasn’t time for that on Saturday. It was just four hours of sharing the same space, peering into each other’s faces to see the younger version hiding somewhere, and remembering where we had all come from so many years ago.
I loved it, and it got me thinking about other reunions. Some will happen here on earth (with family or classmates or work friends) and some will be out of this world.
If we believe in and accept Jesus as our Savior, someday we’ll enjoy a heavenly reunion, one where we’ll recognize each and every face and we’ll have an eternity to sit down and tell each other our life stories.
I know I’m going to love that, too.
“People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast [A reunion!] in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:29 NIV – brackets mine)
Have you ever attended one of your class reunions? How did you feel when you were there? How can focusing on God help you to look forward to the awesome reunion believers will have in heaven someday?