Making Reconnections
As we move through life there are many people and places that we move away from. We leave them behind or they move to a different place- or we both do and lose connection. The other evening I watched a documentary on PBS - Colorblind. It was the story of a reunion of a group of fortysomethings getting together for a class reunion- a class from elementary school- and the teacher who inspired their lives. It is being rolled out this month across the country and is worth the watch.
What was interesting to me, though, was that I had already started this post about reconnecting with people from our past. I had this happen recently and much of what I saw on the documentary echoed my experience when I got an email from a high school classmate I hadn't talked to or seen on over 35 years. We had been good friends in that long ago time- competitors in fact. He always seemed to win. Even when it didn't seem possible- like I would get a perfect mark- he would get extra credit.
We both have moved on to a number of different things over these years. We both have become "successful" in our own fields- and both of us have a couple different fields of endeavor. For many of these years he was always in the back of my mind. When my wife and I were back in Pennsylvania a few years ago we took a road trip to some of our old haunts- and I thought of him as we passed his old house.
For some reason there are people who get stuck in your life- even when you don't see them. They had a place- a part- in helping you become who you are today. Not by doing anything in particular but because they were there going through the same things with you. Not because you always agreed on everything, but that you wrestled together with those things and in so doing they help you discover how to say the things you need to say.
That was heightened for me last year when another high school classmate died in a yard work accident at his home or when I saw the obituary for another class mate (and neighbor) who died of cancer. So when I got the email before Christmas it was a pleasant and energizing moment. I have not had a lot of contact with my hometown over the years. I have not been to a class reunion since 1971. I don't want to be remembered as that person any more.
But maybe that person is still in here, grown up- and a lot older- and maybe even wiser. The old cliche about child being father to the man and all that- well, maybe. But reconnecting is also about being in touch with roots and sources and history. So I am grateful for the reconnections and perhaps I will make some efforts to keep them open and learn some more about me- the people who have been with me at different points of my pilgrimage- and see where we are going now.
What was interesting to me, though, was that I had already started this post about reconnecting with people from our past. I had this happen recently and much of what I saw on the documentary echoed my experience when I got an email from a high school classmate I hadn't talked to or seen on over 35 years. We had been good friends in that long ago time- competitors in fact. He always seemed to win. Even when it didn't seem possible- like I would get a perfect mark- he would get extra credit.
We both have moved on to a number of different things over these years. We both have become "successful" in our own fields- and both of us have a couple different fields of endeavor. For many of these years he was always in the back of my mind. When my wife and I were back in Pennsylvania a few years ago we took a road trip to some of our old haunts- and I thought of him as we passed his old house.
For some reason there are people who get stuck in your life- even when you don't see them. They had a place- a part- in helping you become who you are today. Not by doing anything in particular but because they were there going through the same things with you. Not because you always agreed on everything, but that you wrestled together with those things and in so doing they help you discover how to say the things you need to say.
That was heightened for me last year when another high school classmate died in a yard work accident at his home or when I saw the obituary for another class mate (and neighbor) who died of cancer. So when I got the email before Christmas it was a pleasant and energizing moment. I have not had a lot of contact with my hometown over the years. I have not been to a class reunion since 1971. I don't want to be remembered as that person any more.
But maybe that person is still in here, grown up- and a lot older- and maybe even wiser. The old cliche about child being father to the man and all that- well, maybe. But reconnecting is also about being in touch with roots and sources and history. So I am grateful for the reconnections and perhaps I will make some efforts to keep them open and learn some more about me- the people who have been with me at different points of my pilgrimage- and see where we are going now.
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