We had pulled together a few “milestone” reunions over the years with modest attendance. But 50! This would be the reunion of all reunions, and perhaps our last.

And, it turned out, the celebratory evening checked all the boxes.

Few events offer the opportunity to go back and laugh like a teenager. A reunion does. I’m not off a silly millimeter when I submit that our 50th brought back a flood of memories to everyone who attended.

The organizing committee was wise to prepare the large-lettered nametags. For sure, there were some initial glances at nametags as former classmates approached from across the hall or room; however, for the most part, personal recognition was spontaneous — knowing grins accompanied by beaming eyes, followed by the warmest kind of bear hugs. Over and over and over again.

You forget how much you miss your classmates until you see them again. We bonded, reminisced, and commiserated. We celebrated our lasting memories of 50 years ago. We proudly discussed our families and introduced spouses. We opened up about our losses. The evening was deeply nostalgic, and, at times, conversations were emotionally poignant. But mostly, we grinned, smiled, hugged and laughed. Oh, how we laughed!

I surmised that most of us realized we were a class that deserved respect for bunches of reasons. We worked hard and overcame obstacles and temptations. Some of us made bad choices and still triumphed. Some did not. Collectively, we made it through profound changes to American politics and societal norms. Heck, we graduated without Google or Wikipedia! Dadgummit, we earned those senior discounts and social security checks!

As one would expect, our class covered the gamut of professions. Some were still winding down careers. Others had scaled back but were still working because supporting their longstanding clients and communities was the right thing to do. I was immensely proud of how many of my former classmates had long careers as teachers and nurses, in law enforcement and in the military. We were preachers, lawyers, architects, engineers, entrepreneurs and small-business owners. We were in social and community services and government. We were in support/service and nonprofit industries. Lots of paths taken. We did our part. We contributed.

When we left behind our teenage years and the halls of our high school, we didn’t realize we were making memories and creating bonds that would last another 50 years. That was the furthest thing from our young minds. We simply recognized that we had had bunches of fun with our buds and gal pals, and it was time to move on to push open new doors and search out new opportunities.

Amazingly, some five decades later, everyone showed up older and miraculously grew young again.

That was in sad contrast to the lengthy “In Memoriam” list of deceased classmates displayed at the front of the room. During reunion planning, I studied the list, name by name, recalling most of the recorded schoolmates but not all. Some were casual passersby in the halls of the high school. For others, I swallowed hard with a shake of my head as I recalled the closeness and kinship I experienced those many years ago with now-departed brethren. The solemn list and the evening’s moment of silence were blunt reminders that time irrevocably passes.

Another of the evening’s highlights was learning that a handful of our classmates who had major teenage crushes five decades ago had in fact made the correct choices back in the day. Their first loves turned out to be their always-and-forever life partners! C’mon. How cool is that?

(Sidebar: I suppose we all had crushes back then, but most of us were too shy or awkward to embrace [pun intended] them.)

Without question, gathering as a family strengthens the connections made long ago. On this special evening, we were just happy to be together, share memories and renew friendships. Some classmates trekked six time zones to attend the reunion. Others commuted less than 30 minutes.

The amount of years of catching up we crammed into one carefree evening was ridiculous. Years have passed, but memories — some priceless, some heartbreaking — are still very much alive in our group of classmates.

At the evening’s conclusion and amidst goodbye hugs, we swapped contact information and promised to stay in better touch. To take full advantage of social media and the short physical distances between some of us. Perhaps we’d even try to plan another reunion.

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