Going Home...

     Right now I'm preparing to go back to my hometown where I spent the first 23 years of my life.

     I get back usually at least once a year.  It's a beautiful state, and I still have family and friends that live there.  But since my parents are both gone, every time I return it is accompanied with a touch of bittersweet.  A feeling that something's missing that I can't quite put my finger on.  Perhaps it's just a longing for a reality that's no longer possible.

     This time I am returning for my high school reunion.  None of your business what number.  Kidding.  Sort of.  It doesn't really matter.

     I will see people that I have not seen for years.  Some probably not since we graduated.   There are those that I keep in regular touch with, that I look forward to seeing, and really, there's nobody I can think of that I don't want to see.  Which is good I think.

     I know there are opposing political views.  As political as Sadie's has been the last year, it wasn't what was intended when I started.  As passionate as I am, it's not where I spend most of my time during the day usually.  I strongly suspect that regardless of the outcome of the election, I will return to what Sadie's was prior to June of 2015.

     I hope with the brief time that's shared with former classmates is not consumed with politics.  I'd much rather hear and talk about what's been going on in our lives with our loved ones.  I figure there will be some that my desire for just that, is a testament to a lack of conviction on my part.   To which, if that thought helps their world, so be it.  Like everyone else, after a brief time, I'll return to the day to day, whence I came.

     So I guess, the question is, what do we seek and what to we hope for, when we go home?

     For me, it's an intense curiosity as to how the players that used to make up my day to day have evolved thus far.

     Some, will be anxious to show themselves.  And usually for good reason.  Whatever it may be.

     I don't think there will be any shock with seeing me- I'm pretty much the same ol'; a little grayer, and unbelievably and dismayingly to me, an inch or so shorter.  Overall though, I think I look pretty much the same.

     There are some that we have lost.  And it will be hard to even grasp the gathering without them.  That alone, is a credit to them, and their memory.  The smiles they brought, and no doubt will as we look back.

     There's bound to be laughs over some memories, but we'll also remember, to borrow a line from Billy Joel,

"The good ol' days weren't always good, tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems."

     Hopefully when it's over, we'll be glad we went.  We'll have reconnected with a few friends of the past, and make plans to stay better in touch.  Or we'll just understand that we'll chat when we chat and leave it at that.

I think there'll be more laughs than tears, so with that thought I close.

May the journey you take, grant you the souvenirs you need.