Twenty Years of Perspective Makes You Brave

Twenty years ago I remember being someone else. I was a kid then with everything before me. I was quiet and reserved with a stifled sense of humor (that was only funny in my own head). I thought that might just be who I was destined to be forever. Now, years later, I have certainly become someone that didn't exist then. The best part is that everyone in high school has become someone else too. The playing field was totally leveled the minute we moved that tassel. No more class clowns or prom queens. No more varsity cheerleaders or star quarterbacks. Those four years became a memory that actually had no impact on who we all are now.

Yet when I think about attending my reunion in a few weeks I still have trepidations about being around people who knew me back then. With the flashes of memories from all those years ago comes the flooding feelings of insignificance. People who put me in a category just like I did to them. I don't want to climb back into my wallflower anymore than I want to dig out my acid wash jeans. I hope that those labels that we all had will be as faded as those of a well washed pair of twenty year old jeans. We should all be able to come together with an open mind. To see how far we have all traveled in the work in progress that is our lives. Wrinkles and extra pounds are certainly not choosy and everyone has succumbed to them. The stories that once centered around school pranks and football games will turn to jobs and children now. The skirts will be longer or at least they should be) and the hair grayer. Twenty years can do a lot to alter a pimply brace face. What people see inside is what I care about now though. I want to shine through as the person who I have become or maybe who I always was deep below the insecurity and teen angst. Lets face it, some people that were once immature, self-centered teenagers might have grown into much improved grownups. I know I have.

What I want to gain from attending the reunion is the ability to sneak a boy back into my house just like I tried to to back then. This time I actually don't think it will be an issue....I think I will bring boys and girls alike home with me. This time in the form of a memory.