The Reunion

Next month, I will have been out of high school thirty six years.  I try to tell my son who is a Junior in High School that he will never be able to duplicate these years.   Friends will go to college in different parts of the country, their families will move and some may never make it back to our community.

I have had the same "best friend" for almost 40 years.  Theresa and I did go to high school together, we were best friends there and we lived in the same general area.  We know each other's families, we love each other's parents and we live in the same community even now. 

We are very different.  She has been married to the same man for 35 years, they have three sons, and she has always been a stay at home mom who volunteered at the school library.  Today, this story is not about her.  It is about another friend who shared my name.  We all attended the same high school. 

I only made one high school reunion, I think it was the ten year reunion.  Last year, some of us decided that we wanted to have a mini "girl's reunion" with some girl friends from high school.  We met at a restaurant and shared some laughs.  I had not seen some of these ladies in 35 years.  Some had changed tremendously, others...not so much. 

All of us had children.  Some like me, waited until late in life, others had grandchildren.  My friend Diana had a grown daughter in her twenties.  She was her only child.  Diana had been an only child and her friends consisted of classmates and some neighborhood kids.  I discovered that Diana sufferred from Diabetes.  I am all too familiar with that disease.  Many of the fears that my family has realted to diabetes were realities to her. 

I learned that Diana had to have her foot amputated as a result of the disease.  She also had not worked since high school.  We were all so different.  Thirty five years can sure take people in opposite directions, change their lifestyle and even personalities. We were now mothers and grandmothers and all of us at this reunion lived within 30-35 miles of each other.

Some friends could not make it because of illnesses and some of them I longed to see.  I had searched for one in particular and always came to a dead end.  It seemed she was lost forever.  I discovered at this reunion that she lives in Spring.  How does one get lost in Spring, Tx?   She could not attend the reunion due to illness. 

How did that happen?  It seemed like it was only yesterday when  we were sharing laughs in the classroom, talking about Friday night plans and planning for graduation.  We never considered aging, diseases and life long issues.

We met in my community, shared our pictures, our laughs and our stories and then we left.  I left thinking that I had not seen some of these ladies in 35 years and some I would never see again.  I was right. 

A few months later I got a phone call from Diana's daughter.  Diana had passed away.  She was having mild chest pains, went to the hospital and within days she was gone.  After waiting so long to get together and now she was gone. 

There was nothing I could do to bring back any of those years.  In fact, I have lost track of many of these friends.  Some have been found through social networking but I have difficulty recognizing them as I am still expecting the friend from years back.  I'm certain it is the same with me. 

Yesterday I sat with my father-in-law and he pulled out his class photo from the fourth grade....fourth grade! He is ninety seven years old how many of those kids do you think we would find for a reunion today? 

What would you do differently if you knew there was no tomorrow for a friend, for a loved one, for you?  There may be no more reunions here on earth but my mission would be to once again see these friends...this time for good....the real reunion. 

As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain.  For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you."  I tell you, now is the time of God;s favor, now is the day of salvation.  Galatians 6:1-2

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven not built with human hands.  2 Corthians 5:1