This weekend I slapped on a pair of Spanx, slathered on some BB cream, tried to remember how to use a curling iron, and headed off for my 20th high school reunion.
Yes, I graduated high school when I was 8. No, wait, actually, I was 6.
I was actually pleasantly surprised to see my classmates. Yes, the one mean spirited boy who liked to target insecure girls is now a mean spirited man who picks the same targets, but this insecure girl is now more willing to let it roll off her back. For the most part though, we've all remained pretty nice people. And, know what's weird? I don't think any of us look that different.
I mean, we have to. It's been 20 years. We've all gotten older, and our hair has greyed or thinned. Some of us have put on weight. When I looked at these people though, some of whom I hadn't seen since the day we graduated, I still saw who they were. And then I wondered why they were married to people who are so much older than they are.
Maybe time is like beer. It gives you goggles. Maybe when you know someone in youth you will always see them that way, no matter what the years pile on. After all, no one ever really changes. Sure, they go to medical school, or they develop new world views, or pick up veganism, or decide that an English accent suits them better, but at the core something constant remains. Voices still sound the same. Jokes are told in the same manner. Body language is still familiar. And it's comforting. At least to me.
It's nice to know that if I still see youth in these people, maybe they still see it in me. Because, really, I don't feel any different than I did 20 years ago. I'm stronger, and I'm more confident, and I pay my own bills, but I know that spark I had in me at 17, I mean at 6, is still there. The kid in me isn't disappointed in who I became, because she is still there, and telling me that the game isn't over yet, that there is still more to do.
She's also telling me Spanx are absolutely ridiculous. But she doesn't really want to go to the gym either.
See? I'm still the same.
Yes, I graduated high school when I was 8. No, wait, actually, I was 6.
 |
| I know what you are thinking. Yep, my hair was that awesome. Oh, and it made me 5'8". |
I mean, we have to. It's been 20 years. We've all gotten older, and our hair has greyed or thinned. Some of us have put on weight. When I looked at these people though, some of whom I hadn't seen since the day we graduated, I still saw who they were. And then I wondered why they were married to people who are so much older than they are.
Maybe time is like beer. It gives you goggles. Maybe when you know someone in youth you will always see them that way, no matter what the years pile on. After all, no one ever really changes. Sure, they go to medical school, or they develop new world views, or pick up veganism, or decide that an English accent suits them better, but at the core something constant remains. Voices still sound the same. Jokes are told in the same manner. Body language is still familiar. And it's comforting. At least to me.
It's nice to know that if I still see youth in these people, maybe they still see it in me. Because, really, I don't feel any different than I did 20 years ago. I'm stronger, and I'm more confident, and I pay my own bills, but I know that spark I had in me at 17, I mean at 6, is still there. The kid in me isn't disappointed in who I became, because she is still there, and telling me that the game isn't over yet, that there is still more to do.
She's also telling me Spanx are absolutely ridiculous. But she doesn't really want to go to the gym either.
See? I'm still the same.