For some women, they go to such an event to take stock of how well they've aged. For others, it's to see old friends and reconnect. For me, it was more curiosity than anything else. Where are my friends now? Are they stumbling through the aging process like me or have they found the fountain of youth? Where do they live? What have they done with their lives? Would we still have things in common? Was the cheerleader still cute and just exactly why was I so intimidated by her? Would I recognize anyone or would they recognize me? Admittedly I think the latter was more important to me. Had I aged so much that people wouldn't recognize me? I hoped not.
It was great seeing everyone. But it left me thinking how shallow we were in our youth. For instance, I had no idea one of my good friends' dad was in the CIA. I had no clue that another girl's mom had left her family. Behind the masks we all put on in school, what exactly was everyone going though and how was it affecting them?
After the revelry of the reunion, I had time to reflect in the quiet of the borrowed bedroom of which I was staying. What if I had followed my friends to the East Coast after college? I had plenty of opportunity but I hadn't really been that interested in politics which predominated the DC area. There seemed to be so many roads open to me at that time of my life that left me wondering .... what if?
I remember the terrible fight I had with my mom over where to go to college. I wanted to go somewhere else other than Texas but we were Texas residents and it was either a Texas university or go the University of Maryland over the base's commissary. I chose Texas. They wanted UM. I won.
Once I graduated from Tech, my parents wanted me to stay in Dallas. My mom wanted to send me to secretarial school. (Are you kidding me??? I have a degree!) My dad's idea was for me to enlist in the Air Force. What if I HAD joined the Air Force??? I know I would have become a writer no matter where I landed but could I have gone to different countries and been a true reporter? I was offered a job in public relations at a hospital in Dallas. Would that have been the start of me becoming a powerful PR exec?
Instead I chose to follow my college friends and take the first job that I landed in Houston. From there, I scraped out a living, met some really cool people, had some great loves, made many mistakes but all in all, lived a truly wonderful life.
I can't even begin to think about the roads not traveled. I guess the most important thing I learned out of this reunion is that my life is blessed with a wonderful husband, three wonderful boys that while are not mine biologically, they own my heart; a great daughter-in-law and two wonderful granddaughters; a fairly good reputation that has earned me my own business and a myriad of wonderful friends that live all across the world.
I guess after all, I took the right roads...
