The Siloam Springs High School graduates from 1964 through 1979 held a glorious reunion this past weekend at Camp Siloam, formerly known as Arkansas Baptist Assembly. The attendance was amazing, a good dinner was consumed, and several bands got together to rock 'n roll once again. I'm glad my wife and I attended. I spent most of Sunday morning trying to understand why.
Regardless of our age, life is short. The high school years seemed to take forever to live through. Now our children are adults and we are grandparents, even great-grandparents. The memories we rehashed during our evening together just didn't seem that long ago. We remembered the classmates who have already passed on, even as we silently wondered who would not be with us at the next reunion.
Thank goodness that who we were in high school is not who we are now! There is nothing more pathetic than seeing a 64-year-old ex-jock swaggering around like he is still God's gift to women. Especially when he's had hip replacements and uses a walker! It was gratifying to see that we had all matured gracefully and acted like, well, adults.
We have nothing left to prove to anyone. We are all at or on the verge of retirement. There are no do-overs. What we have achieved is on the board for all to see, for better or worse. No one really cares what kind of car you drive anymore (unless it's that cool '68 Camaro or Mustang you were smart enough to keep all these years). The pretense of coolness we tried to hold onto in our teens was dropped a long time ago. Peer pressure was exchanged for wisdom and insight.
I asked several people what they would have told their high school selves if they had the chance. Some said they would have been less shy, some said they would have studied harder (ha!), but the majority said they wouldn't have changed a thing. That speaks volumes as to the way they are living now. My answer to that question was to tell myself to lighten up, don't be so serious; maybe to even break a few rules (gasp!).
I was amazed that one person from my class experienced a heart attack on the prior Thursday, but checked himself out of the hospital just so he could attend the reunion and play in one of the bands! You are still crazy after all these years, David W.
The only down side to a multi-class reunion is the lack of time to just sit down and talk with someone. Each reunion I attend I tell people we should stay in touch. Invariably, the only time we do meet is at the next reunion. Life is still too busy; schedules get in the way.
So I will state this in writing, in public. Any of my high school buds wishing to just shoot the breeze, please let me know. There is a café across the street and two bars downtown, so let me know when and where.
First round is on me.
-- Devin Houston is the president/CEO of Houston Enzymes. Send comments or questions to [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 09/20/2017