These Are My JOTtings...

High School Reunions or Run-Me-Downs?

High school reunions are great for some of the graduates, but not so much for others.

For the star athletes who were stars in college and in the pros, high school reunions are great ego-boosters. Everyone wants to be their friend.

For the average high school student, who went on to make it big in the business world with the ability to pay for the high school reunion, high school reunions are great ways to network, increasing their bottom line.

For the graduate, who has been able to maintain his or her physique by means of diet & exercise or vacuum tube, high school reunions are walks down a fashion runaway, accompanied by Oohs and Ahs.

However, for most of us it tends not to be an encouraging event. The rest of us show some signs of early and for others some advanced forms of aging around the middle and/or off-the-top. No matter how many coats of paint or drapes of clothing we may use to try to hide the fact, ultimately we must confess we are no longer the svelte teenagers we used to be.

That being said, I am grateful for the graduates with whom I reunited a little over three years ago at my 35th high school reunion. They didn't poke fun at the extra weight I was carrying, especially since some of them were dealing with the same issue. (I must confess a bit of shock, when my best buddy and high school basketball center gave me an FYI a number of years ago that he had put on 100 pounds. I couldn't imagine him being fat and he wasn't. Apparently, 6'5" ball players can put on 100 pounds and still look pretty healthy. He had more places to put it.)

My friends were cordial and still showed a great deal of respect for me after all of these years. The sad part is the fact, that since I no longer live in that town, we are not part of each other's lives. The topic of conversation is "Remember when?"

That's great to a point, but then you realize it's time to go home. Did we accomplish anything of lasting value?

High school reunions and beauty pageants have a great deal in common.
1. We are praised for things we do.
2. We are praised for how we look.
3. We are praised for who our families are.
4. We are praised for who our friends are.
5. We are praised for how much money we make or the money of others with whom we have access.
6. We are praised for our minds.
7. We are praised for our successes.

Is there a venue in which we can be praised simply because we breathe?
Is there a venue in which our efforts are good enough, even if they are not as great as the Greats?
Is there a venue in which our "all we are" is "all we need to be"?

In a perfect world that would be Home. (This would certainly save on gas for going back to high school reunions.)
Yet, this is not a perfect world.

Family is not always close blood kin.
Family is often created by a close bond with a dear friend. (Remember David and Jonathan in the Jewish Pentateuch?)

The Friendship Family can be found in high school reunions, when two dear friends are reunited after one has had to move a great distance away for various reasons.

The Friendship Family can be created wherever an individual is planted on Earth. Sometimes the bond can be developed in places like Writing.Com, when mutual honesty is at a premium.

Though my Dad was an imperfect man (and he would confess the same,) he loved me deeply and I count him as my greatest "cheerleader" in Life. Dad wanted to impart wisdom to me, when I was small, when I was in my teens and when I was a young married man. Dad used to tell me, "Son, if in your life you find one true friend, then you are really blessed."

Lately I have begun to develop a deeper relationship with a male friend than ever before in my life. We are much like the saying, "Iron sharpens iron." We are good for each other. We are growing together.

Every time we get together it is a reunion, but we never attended one class together in the same high school.

Our reunions have lasting benefits. That is truly the purpose of a reunion. :D

I'm a member of the Rising Stars Program for 2016-2017