Reunions

Having had a week to think about it I thought I should put down a few thoughts about class reunions. Last week, after forty years I met with my fellow alumni for the reunion of the Benzie Central High School class of 1969.

First of all I only recognized one or two people. Don’t get me wrong I remembered them, I just didn’t recognize them. Time it seems changes us all. Hair turns gray, waistlines expand, hair lines recede, and everyone is forty years older.

Time brings us together. It would seem that as we age differences in personality and lifestyle that seem so important forty years ago no longer mater. They have been erased by a lifetime of shared experiences. We have all watched as the world has changed and dealing with that change has blurred the lines between the jocks, band kids, and the kids who were in shop class. It makes you realize that in so many ways we are the same.

We may not remember things exactly the same way, but the memories we share are the same. We may not agree on how things happened, but we agree that they did and that’s all that matters. Lets jest hope that next time we can still remember at all.

As it is I’m looking forward to next time and I’ll see you in five more years.

You Don't Know What You Have Till It's Gone

My mom told stories about her past repeating them until we kids joked about numbering them. To save time we said we could just say do you remember mom telling number 25 and laugh about it. Now that I don’t have her anymore I miss those stories.

My step dad wanted to take me fishing and camping, but I didn’t have time. I wish now that I’d gone with him.

You don’t know what you have till it’s gone and when it’s gone you can’t get it back. If youth could but see through the eyes of age we would have fewer regrets in life. If we knew how much we would miss something we might pay more attention to it before it’s gone, but that is a gift we can never have.

Let us be thankful for the memories we have and enjoy them until we no longer can.

The Wish Book

I was thinking about Christmases past and present. I remembered the one thing that made the season special. The one thing we kids looked forward to each year, the wish book. It was a peek into another world. It was what dreams were made of. Inside its pages was a wonderland of all that was new and exciting. All the newest and greatest things were in there.
Bikes and scooters, robots and trains, dolls and games, everything a child’s hart desired. Each year it came filled with all that was new and exciting for the holiday season. More than a place to buy things it was the place dreams were made. When it came we spent hours turning the pages and imagining what fun we could have with each new treasurer.

I am sure there were other things besides toys in there, but we really didn't notice. What we wanted was to pick out the things we couldn't’t live without and start dropping hints to mom and dad to get them for us.
I don’t remember if we ever got the things we wanted, but I do remember all the hours spent thumbing through those pages. Without that book the holidays would not have been the same. The childhood dreams of what might be filled our harts with excitement and anticipation. That is what was special about it. The hart felt dreams and wishes of a child’s Christmas.

Winter Fun

In Benzonia, Michigan behind the elementary school there is a hill. A road ran down that hill and in the winter it would be closed to traffic. The Village kept it plowed and maintained a tow rope there. On weekends we would go there to slide.
Someone would build a bonfire at the top of the hill so we could get warm and we would spend the day riding our bobsleds, toboggans, and two runner sleds down to the bottom. Snowboards had yet to be invented so we used bump jumpers. These were basically a ski with a seat that you road using your feet for balance.
If you got tired of this, there was an ice rink across from the school. It was made by flattening the snow and spraying it with water.
All this was maintained by the Village of Benzonia and was enjoyed by all. The cost to use it? Nothing! It was just there to give us something to do.

No one supervised us. Our folks knew where we were. They also knew that if we got hurt someone would see that we got home.
No one worried about strangers, liability, or suing the Village if something happened. All that mattered was having a good time and getting home in time for supper.

Food And The Seasons

Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple of weeks and the weather is getting colder. Those two things got me thinking about different foods and what they represent.

As we grow up foods become family traditions. The holidays and the seasons become linked in our minds with these foods to the point where they become one.
Thanksgiving is turkey, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole. Summer is cookouts with hamburgers and brats. Fall is apple cider and donuts. Easter is linked with ham and hard boiled eggs.
The list goes on and on. For each of us it changes based on our family and where we grew up. I am sure that people in the southwest don't see cold weather in the fall as soup time and there are those who don't have the same holiday traditions.

One thing remains the same for all of us, food can bring comfort and memories from our past. Family gathering around the table at grandma's house or a cookout at the beach. We each have memories triggered by smells, tastes, and the time of year.

Whatever these things mean to you, take the time to pause and reflect when you smell dinner in the oven during this holiday season.