And on the horizon looms another mile marker for the Journey … <3

Well, here we are at Friday again. 

Russ and I just shake our heads at how fast the days and months are rolling by. Truly at the speed of light, they are fleeting away as we are just weeks away from being half way through 2026. 

Time does seem to be accelerating and so I find myself facing the brutal reality that next weekend I will be attending my 50th…FIFTIETH…high school class reunion. 

I remember turning fifty and having to struggle with, shy of seeing a centennial celebration of my birth (no thank you), the knowledge that over half my life was behind me. 

Now I will be gathering with people I haven’t seen in forever. Except for a handful of them, I last saw the class of 1976 in cap and gown five decades ago. 

Russ and I did attend the fifth reunion and then attempted another visit back at maybe 20? Not sure. There were not a lot of people at the Friday night event that we opted to attend so there is big chunk I haven’t seen for a while. 

Sure, we once made a trip back with the kids to show them where I spent the greater part of my young years. And Russ blessed me with a stop there after the Masters a few years ago to have coffee with my former French teacher. 

She had arranged for a couple of my friends from both church and school to come for coffee with us and that was sweet. 

I did get to see my best friend in California this spring and another visit out there when  our three were little, but with that contact and sending a Christmas card to another class mate each year you have the extent of my contact with those on the journey who occupied grades 4 through 12. 

So as you might expect, I am a mixed bag of emotions. I see names of people registering, some I remember, some I don’t. I can put some faces with names, but a lot I can’t. 

We will be dragging the year book out sometime in the next few days when I feel strong enough to look at it.  I will try and refresh myself with as many stories to accompany the black and white photos that this crammed full brain and heart can summon. 

One of the drawbacks of my particular wiring is that I retain a lot of minutia about so many people, even people I don’t know, that when one big section comes crashing to the front of the brain, it can seem overwhelming. 

One thing has been helpful in the past week. I saw a post from one of the girls I knew fairly well. I think she had lived there before my time, moved away and moved back when we were in high school. I remember people knew her from before and she was familiar with the town and people but had not been on my radar until our last four years. 

She shared a picture of their girl scout troop in third grade. Since we arrived a year later, I was not in it. It mattered not to me as I scanned the faces and guessed at a few and then read the names at the bottom to pull it all together. 

Their cute little faces and smiles broke open a place in my heart to give me room to look forward to this event instead of the mild panic of trying to make small talk, remember names, recognize faces and not take someone not knowing me personally. 

Sigh. 

Stay tuned. I am sure I will come back with a story or two, a lesson learned and a way God showed up. Or else I will put my foot in my mouth so much I will need some time to recover…ha! 

We shall see.

Thankfully I will have my best friend for life at my side and he will gracefully guide me through, like he always does. Whew. That much I can count on <3