Thirty Years After

This past weekend was my thirtieth high school reunion. Now the truth is, we had not had a reunion in previous years so this was the first. Thirty years is a long time to wait.

Walking into the hotel ballroom on Saturday night was a strange feeling. The first person I saw was my chemistry teacher who, I'm led to believe, has concocted an eternal youth potion. I didn't see one extra wrinkle on his face since high school. He looked exactly the same yet he's been retired six years already.

The men got a little gray, OK some went right past gray to chrome (you get my drift here don't you?). Some had actually become quite distinguished. Some had lost weight, some had gained and these were just the men. As for the girls I went to school with, some got a little gray, some got a little heavier, some lost a little weight and some, two in particular, had aged about a week in thirty years.

My favorite teacher, Mr. Keon, has since retired but is still an influence at the school. It was good to spend a little extra time with him. He was my history teacher, my Driver's Ed instructor and coach of the curling team of which I was a member for three years. It was good to catch up with him but was a little weird calling him by his first name.

Four students are no longer with us, from a graduating class of about thirty. It was a small high school. Four out of thirty is a shame after only thirty years (just over ten percent). Think about how fortunate you are to be reading this today.

From the first night of the weekend we didn't spend a lot of time asking each other what we did for a living. It really didn't matter. We were just picking up where we left off thirty years ago. With such a small school we were all pretty close and everyone sort of hung out with everyone.

"Sister Clare would have been proud," Elizabeth (former classmate and now teacher) said to me upon hearing that I was about to release my seventh book. Actually five students are now teachers - five out of thirty.

Sister Clare was my English teacher. I, in retrospect, was a pain in her behind for the years she had the misfortune of having Burns in her class. But, she managed to get the grammar, spelling and sentence structure basics into me. I guess I was capable of learning something even while being a pain in the butt.

You know, as I look back, I guess I really owe Sister Clare a debt of gratitude and a rather large apology. I'm sorry Sister. And thank you.

Attitude Adjustment: Who has made an impact on your life? Have you ever expressed your gratitude to that person? How much of a difference do you think saying "thanks" would make to one of your old teachers? How would you feel if someone thirty years later gave thanks to you for something you did in their lives? It only takes a moment and very little effort to show your appreciation to someone for something they did. By the way, be grateful for all of the events of your life - good and bad. There's wisdom in all of it. Pay attention and pay respect to your teachers and mentors. That's your "gr-Attitude Adjustment."