Re-Connectin' Again

Recently a group of WHS graduates (Class of 1990 and around in there) has reunited here in the Triangle at various eateries, backyard parties, playdates and parks to catch back up, get to know each other's spouses and kids, go over old times, and forge new bonds. I'm married to someone who admittedly thought that life in Norton, OH ceased to exit when he ventured south twelve years ago, scarcely to return. So he finds it odd (uncanny even?) at the number of "Boone" people that I run into and keep in touch with. It started after college when Josh B., Matt, Randy and I (and our spouses and siblings) started hanging out regularly, forming friendships that, to me, transcended anything we had going on in High School. Randy's home is in Massachusets now, but when he comes to visit his folks in Cary, we find a way to get the Boone crew together. Randy was the long-haired, leather-jacket-wearing new guy from Egypt, in 11th grade, with enough mystery to keep us interested and guessing. Now he's following the American Dream in a picturesque, sleepy harbor town near Boston, where he enjoys perfect beach days, developing an organic lawn-care business and catching up with friends over a hot cup of coffee or cold beer. Josh B. and I go back to 9th grade when he dated a good friend of mine and accidentally got blessed out by me for calling during suppertime (I mistook him for a pest that used to call me a lot. Sorry, Josh). Our first-borns entered this world one day apart, and each year since (I can't believe they're about to turn 5!) we've rung in their birthdays together along with proud aunts, uncles, grandparents and mutual friends. Matt is practically a Lightfoot and feels like a brother to me, and Kate and Daniel. We were dance partners in the 7th-grade production of "Ducktails and Bobbysox" (wouldn't you like to get your hands on that footage!), and I never would have predicted that twenty-two years later Matt and I would be laughing at inappropriate things my dad said or planning joint family birthday gatherings over Labor Day weekend. 'Mon Heelz.

Erik, Judy, Josh H., and Lee (and Keith, and one day Colby and Lane) have been added, or re-introduced to the mix recently. Lee was always a very likable, easy going guy growing up, as I recall, and he's married a truly delightful woman who I felt like I could talk to forever. Judy moved to Boone and was in my class in 5th grade. We became fast friends and I fondly recall spending days at her house learning how to fold oragami paper cranes, boxes and balloons with beautiful patterned papers. One of my friends had a crush on Josh H. in the 8th grade. He took another one of my friends to the 9th-grade Homecoming Dance. Josh is the one who said to me, "You made it," before I had seen my name on the All-State Band list. When I come across the word "pensive" I think of Josh H., because Mrs. Benson, High School English teacher, referenced Josh as being pensive one afternoon. It stuck. Speaking of Mrs. Benson, her son Erik was always the smartest guy in the room from as early as I can remember. Make that as early as the 3rd grade. That was my first year in Boone, but Erik was always the one to beat in Chess, in Spelling Bees, in anything academic. The lore (was it true?) that got around fast was that Erik read dictionaries front to back just for fun. Erik and his adorable kids met us for dinner back in March and I hadn't seen him for at least 16 years. It didn't take long to break the ice (never does when young children are involved) for at our second meeting, a music-time playdate in his backyard, I found myself wrapped up in a pink, fluffy boa, all inhibitions tossed to the wind, dancing around the yard belting, "We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine, yellow submarine," while Johnny and Grace looked on in disbelief.

I've been connected to these people since third grade, our common public schooling experience etched in our collective schemas whether we like it or not. I didn't actually spend significant amounts of time hanging out with these people in HS (with the exception of Randy and Josh B.). But now Josh H. and David do similar work and exchange professional experiences over chips and salsa. Josh H. ended up marrying Emily, a popular girl from my sister's class (yes, another one from Boone! They're everywhere!), so she was coming to Kate's birthday parties at my house over 25 years ago!

Do I enjoy these people because they're from Boone, like me, or in spite of the fact that they're from Boone? Who knows. The point is, we're all older, a little bit wiser, on the other side of adolescence, and are getting to know the grown-up versions of the kids from Boone we feel like we've known forever.