Has it Really Been That Long?
Today, I received a strange email correspondence. It was from somebody who’s name I almost recognized. Just as I was about to hit the little “junk” icon, deleting it for all eternity into my wonderful bit bucket, I happened to notice that I was the only recipient and I remembered where I had heard the name before. The subject of the email was “reunion,” which sounds right up there with the typical “refinance your home now and save thousands!” or, my favorite, the “guaranteed to enlarge your penis by three inches!” This email, however, was not quite spam. My 20th high school reunion will take place this year on November 27th.
Needless to say, this is stirring up some strange ghosts for me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back to Eastchester. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back to the sleepy tree-lined streets, since I’ve seen the “Post” Road which snakes through town, visited the “north end” bakery where I used to get my Sunday morning treats, or even darted by the gas station on the corner. The people there seem so distant to me. A lot has happened in twenty years since I’ve left yet, somehow, magically, I feel as if nothing has finished. Like I could go right back again, and take up where I left off. Like the land that time forgot, I think of it as unchanged, unchecked, untarnished, yet I’ve moved on, developed, grown, in some ways, I suppose, regressed.
I wonder how many people I would recognize, how many would recognize me, and if I’d even recognize the place. I wonder if I did all the things I set out to do twenty years ago. I wonder about some of the folks with whom I graduated. Sometimes, I wonder if they wonder too. The names and the faces have all faded into “distant memory” status yet, somehow, I can recall tidbits as if it were yesterday.
I wish I could leave you with some seemingly meaningful quotation on the richness of all that I’m feeling. Somehow, all that comes to mind is silly yet simple, “it was 20 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper told the band to play…” Strike up the band, my friends, I’ve been sprung for 20 from the “big house” and it’s raising a smile upon my face, just as the song predicted.
Until next time…
