Sunday morning and a shroud of smoke hangs heavy on the early morning air. Canadian wildfire smoke upslopes cottony over the hills. My kitchen window frames the muted wildflowers in the backyard. Daisies rambling up towards the forest’s edge. Innocence and purity cover the expanse. They look particularly beautiful this morning. Something feels just a bit sweeter this a.m…
Recently I have reconnected with some high school friends on social media. First, Facebook and now Instagram. Some I have even known since first grade. I am pleasantly taken aback by how wonderful this late life journey is and the opportunity to get to know something of their life now. The many years since graduation are melting away. We are scattered all over the States. The East Coast to the West. Utah, RI and of course our mutual state of Massachusetts. I cherish the glimpses into their lives now while holding the special shared memories of our teenage experience together. I fondly remember them then and adore them now…
Some classmates also have an association with my mom. She grew up just next door to my childhood home. Living an entire lifetime on Tremont Street. One high school friend has a father and an uncle or two that went to high school with my mom. A father and a mother for another friend share this connection. A mother of yet another classmate who lived right down the street from where I grew up. Without explanation they know something about what I hold so dear to me. The relationship is as pure as the expanding field of daises…
We once were secure in the transient beauty of our youth. A lifetime of choices reads in our faces currently. An arsenal of experience has deepened the intrinsic beauty of each mate. No pretense now. Just us. The good and bad we bring to the table now is deeply rich. There is real value in that…
I worked after school most days. The demands of a family business didn’t allow for a lot of high school extra curricular but upon reflection I am not sure that hindered the bonds that developed in a classroom or in the hallways. So many moments can be ascribed to each classmate and a particular moment has been etched “in the back of my mind” and will be carried with me for the forever…
“High school is what kind of grows you into the person you are. I have great memories, good and bad, some learning experiences and some that I’ll take with me the rest of my life.” — Giancarlo Stanton