I've been reflecting about life a lot lately. Thinking back to my childhood, my youth, and college-age. As I do this review in my head, I see friends from years ago, even remember names that pop up out of nowhere. Names of friends that only were in my life for a year or two and then their families moved out of town. Never-the-less, their names are etched somewhere deep in my brain. I may not be able to remember from one moment to the next why I entered a room, but I can remember Suzy Q's name from third grade.
Facebook has been a fun and entertaining way to "reunite" with people from days of yore - either high school classmates, college classmates, or former students. Especially with my high school classmates, it is fun to see how each of our "looks" has changed. I have not attended a high school reunion in about ten years now and I suspect many of us would not recognize the others. Are our Facebook photos current? Perhaps?
Capt. SO recently attended the funeral of a Fortune-Five-Hundred former CO and President. I did not travel with him to the funeral, wanting to but unable to squeeze it into my schedule. He said the attendees were like a "Who's Who" of his former workplace. They - mostly men - took the opportunity to catch up with one another, checking in on health-related issues and family members. One of them joked that, at their ages, conversation inevitably turns to health. Capt. SO remarked that they each took time telling one another how "good" they looked, until one elderly gentlemen put the whole charade to rest.
He said, "Gents, there are just three stages of life. Young, middle-aged and 'You look great!' We all know which stage we are in so let's stop kidding ourselves!"
Yes, I suspect it's true. Tonight, as I did a quick foray onto my Facebook page, I saw a post from one former high school classmate to another. It read, "You look great!"
The old guy was right.
Ancora imparo
