Back In The Day

So, last weekend, I got to do something that I don't get to do often enough.

I got to take a trip home. Now, by home, I don't mean the place where I store my stuff. I mean... "home". For those of you that don't know, I grew up in South Florida, and to me, that is where my heart is. Don't get me wrong; I love living in Dallas, and I value all of the friends that I have here, but my history is down there. My wife and I try to get down there about every other summer for vacation, but this year was different for a couple of reasons:

1 - It was only for three days, due to me saving my vacation time for the end of the year

and

2 - There was a reunion of the people that I was in high school band with last Saturday.

Add to that the factors that it was the weekend of my best friends birthday, and it was announced that there would be an appearance by our high school band director (whom none of us have seen since I graduated fifteen years ago... he left that summer to move to Michigan with his new wife), and there was no way in hell that I was missing this opportunity to recharge my batteries on the East Coast.

Nothing can truly explain how many levels this trip had. Whenever my plane lands at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, I always get this great feeling of calm that I can't get anywhere else. It's kind of like knowing that you are getting back to a simpler time in your life, even if for just a short while. Also getting a chance to reconnect not only with people that I went to high school with, but also with some people that I went to church with growing up (I went Sunday morning, and Hurricane Wilma did a lot of interior damage to our sanctuary... about crushed my soul... at least the stained glass windows were OK), which in turn got me in contact with even more people that I went to high school with.

You see, after the class of 1991 graduated from Coconut Creek High School (don't laugh... that was really the name of the school and the city that it is in), a lot of us scattered across the country. We had a really good turnout at our 10-year reunion, and the 15-year was planned to late for me to make any travel changes. For the most part, though, we were a pretty tight group of people whom, even though thousands of miles separate most of us, still try to keep up with each other. This reunion of a bunch of different classes was even better, because I not only got to see my classmates, but others that I spent time with as well.

Then, there was the fact that Mr. Ayres flew down to see all of us. He was the teacher that really not only heavily influenced me more than any other teacher I've ever had (except my 2nd and 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Griffin), but the same could be said by HUNDREDS of other people that he has taught. Save a few grey hairs, he looked exactly the same, and having him there was more than any of us could have even dreamed of. To have him look at all of us and say, "It's great to see that all of you have done so well for yourselves" was like having the approval of a loving father to all of his kids. And that's what we were all.

We're looking to do it again next year in Orlando, and I'm hoping that they can plan it in the fall, when my wife and I are trying to get to Disney World.

Do yourself a favor: if the opportunity comes your way to reconnect with people you've lost over the years, DON'T LET IT PASS YOU BY. The feeling is unequaled.

Until I have anything else to write...

BB