Decade Reunion

2013 means a lot of things.  It means we survived 2012.  It means my second semester and a whole year of grad school.  It also means 2003 was ten years ago.  Ten years.  A whole decade.  2003 was the year I graduated high school.

Where the hell did the time go?

When did I cease to understand the latest slang?  When did I start turning on the radio and hearing a new song only to stare wide-eyed and say “Did they really just say that?” or “What the hell does that mean?” or “This is crap…”  When did my little nephew morph from a cute bright-eyed kid to a grown man with a beard who drives?  When did all my friends start getting married and having kids and getting real jobs?

What the hell is happening?

This is what our teachers and parents kept telling us would happen.  It’s called life.  And it tends to move on regardless of where you are.  Sometimes it seems like high school was just some silly dream.  Other times it seems like just a day ago we were bitching about how much we wanted to grow up and be on our own already.

I’m 3 years from 30.  When exactly did I get past 21?  That was the moment we were all waiting for.  So we could buy our own booze.  I don’t think we realized there was life after 21.  That there would be more birthdays.

A high school reunion is being planned.  Most of us manage to keep in touch through social media.  There probably won’t be any big surprises as to who ended up where because most of us already know.  Still, it’ll be great to see everyone again.  Our class was close.  We graduated somewhere around 21 people.  Small town school.  Many of us had been there since Kindergarten.  In a sense, this feels like a family reunion. 

We’ve all moved several directions.  Marriages, divorces, kids, college, jobs, etc.  I am one of the few who remains unmarried and with no children.  Which is fine with me since I’ve never wanted children.  I ended up going the graduate school route.  Apparently, I’m intent on delaying real life.  I can do real life in my 30s, right? 

I have to say, I’m mostly pretty damn happy where I am in my life.  I’m in a long-term, stable, and healthy relationship.  I’m working on my Master’s in Counseling Psychology.  I am going into a career that I am extremely passionate about.  I feel, for the first time in a very long time and maybe ever, that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be.

So here’s to the good old days with all their laughter, tears, and longing.  And here’s to how far we’ve come and how far we’re going.