10 Year Reunion

OMG - Has it already been 10 years?

That was my first thought when I received the Class of 1998 email tonight for my contact information. There are a lot of my classmates that I keep in touch with (because I choose to). Plus, with the wide-popularity of My Spac.e, I already sort-of know what many of my classmates are doing, whether I want to or not. It takes the surprise and wonder elements out of the anticipation of a reunion.

This really brings up the question -- do I really want to go? I already keep in touch with those people I care about. It might be nice to see others, but I'm sure I will live if I don't know for another 10 years what so-and-so is up to, or what Jock X looks like. On the other hand, it is a good excuse to have a reunion with my good friends, and those whom I really want to see. If I plan to go (along with my good friends) then we can all catch up at once (especially with those ones who never visit, or aren't so good at keeping in touch).

I guess my second thought is -- where has the last ten years gone? I went to college for five years, held a job for two, and then I've been in grad school for three. I guess it does not seem like it should add up, but it does. I always thought I would be doing something glamorous by my first reunion, maybe I would be living in Paris (working for the CIA), maybe I would be a housewife (married to a pro-athlete, with gorgeous children), maybe I would look like 'The Girls Ne.xt Door' (or Jessica Bie.l), or somehow I would be leading some other fabulous, envious life.

Well -- needless to say, I'm just ordinary. I live in a normal place (actually only 5-10 miles away from a few of my high-school classmates), with a normal career goals, normal life, and normal looks (although, I'd like to think I look better than in high school). All the while, I am proud of my accomplishments, and in my-own-way, I am leading my fabulous, envious life.

Maybe this is just a sign of growing up, but I'm not as worried about being envied as much as I was 10 or even 5 years ago. I no longer have a need to consciously compare my life to my classmates. I have finally realized that what is important is not successful careers, poster-families, money, marriages, looks or any of those superficial comparisons. The only thing that matters is whether I'm content with my life over the last ten years. For the most part I am. And, I can take this opportunity re-shape my life in those areas that have not turned out the way I wanted them to. Don't worry, this doesn't mean I'll be running off to Paris any time soon (at least not expectedly), nor will I invest in a boob-job and lypo to try and look like those girls mentioned above. But, it does mean that I'm going to try and live life to the fullest and focus on the things that make me happiest, while ensuring that I can have success and happiness before my twenty-year reunion.