Back to School

There are days when I feel like I have the energy of three people; yesterday and today were not those days.  After being gone all weekend, a late flight home with little sleep and schlepping into work on Monday, I called it a victory that I was able to scrape together a little pasta meal before heading to my daughter’s middle school open house.  The format for the open house is a mock school day.  I had my daughters schedule in hand and went room to room with hundreds of other parents meeting that hour’s teacher, learning a bit about the curriculum, and asking any questions.  My daughter’s middle school is the old high school that I attended.  Coincidentally, I have what seems like dozens of my former classmates with 8th grade children, and there we were 30 years later walking those same hallways together.  This coming weekend is the actual 30 year reunion get together.  We have organized and semi organized events both Friday and Saturday.  I know reunions are fodder for anti Jones, antiestablishment type folks that see them as just opportunities for those that have, to show off what they have.  For some, bad memories rise at the mere mention of the date.  I wasn't one of the popular kids, nor was I a social outsider.  I was more a coaster.  I had my circle of friends, but was friendly with most.  If I wasn't on the upper rungs of the social ladder, nor on the bottom, I was comfortable hanging out in between. 

As I've gotten older, I enjoy reunions, planned like this, or unexpected when you run into someone you used to know, and spend a few minutes catching up.  I like hearing about kids and now grandkids, share sympathy for lost loved ones and genuinely wish them well.  As I wrote in Mean Girls, it is sad that there are a certain set of people that feel like their worth is elevated by others misfortune.  I’ve been experiencing that in the work place, which added to my drained momentum coming home.  There was something about going to the open house and getting a sneak preview of the weekend’s festivities that shook me out of my malaise.  I remembered what it was like to have nothing but open skies and big plans ahead, but with the satisfaction that things have turned out pretty darn good so far.