On Saturday night, I got together with 7 high school friends and my wife who was a real trooper for hanging in there as the plus one and enduring all of our high school memories.
One particular moment stuck out in a very personal way. My friend Karen, who was easily one of my best friends in high school said: "I feel so bad because I really think you took a lot of abuse in high school."
Well...I suppose I should go and thank my therapist and spiritual director since I seem to be so well adjusted by now.
But I have to admit Karen's feelings were accurate. And the fact that she's absorbed a lot of the pain that I probably didn't really myself touched me very deeply--especially because I think Karen probably took a good deal of abuse herself. In fact, a great moment of reconciliation came when our friend Doug apologized to her for picking on her in high school.
We do hold on tightly to things from our formative years, don't we? And while my own awkward high school years were filled with a sense of under-confidence--a feeling that I often have trouble shaking even today--I think I've been able to put those feelings aside and remember high school as being mostly a good time of my life--even with all the abuse. I learned a lot in high school and had a lot of special teachers and friends. We wished that more people would have been able to make our dinner on Saturday--but I was really looking forward to dinner with these 7 people--3 of whom I was pretty close with in high school in particular and one of whom I have known since kindergarten!
So thanks for the memories, folks! Go Saunders and thanks for a great evening.
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