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The Nashua Reunion

The past several weeks have been a little rough due in part to a new drug I am taking. For the last couple of years, one after another hormone therapy medication was prescribed to bring my cancer under control. Each one of them has failed after a few months. So two weeks ago I began taking a chemotherapy pill. It remains to be seen if this medicine is working.

Recently, the All-School Reunion was held in Nashua. Although I didn’t get to visit with some I’d have liked to, I did get to see and talk with a few of the people who were in attendance.

After it was all over, I started thinking about reunions - family, school, individual.

It’s been said you can never go home, and in a sense that is true. But you can go back to where you lived, grew up, worked. In going to a reunion you are returning to memories, to an integral part of your history.

In visiting with people who were a major part of your life, you are not so much returning to them as continuing your relationship with them. You’ve all followed your own path, but the need to reconnect with your past draws you to reunions.

You share memories of all the good - and tough - times of your lives together. And you spend time catching up on where you each are now on your life’s journey. You visit once again the places that were an important part of your formative years.

Days, months, years after you’ve been to a reunion, something will trigger a memory of your time together and it will bring a smile, maybe even a few tears. And once again, you will give thanks for them being a part of your life.

To me, a reunion is something that’s a need - a need to get back to your roots, a need to get grounded once again.

Last Thursday it was the 46th anniversary of my mother’s passing. Today, Monday, it’s the 36th anniversary of my father’s leaving this earth.

They have been on my mind constantly the past few days. They are who helped make me who I am today. They are who helped me to find my own way in the world, to have the strength and courage to overcome obstacles in my life, to give me the knowledge on how to grow, to encourage me to believe I can make my dreams come true.

So, in a way, during the last few days, I’ve attended a reunion of my own. I’ve traveled back in time, relived myriad memories, had more smiles than tears, and given thanks to my parents for making me, me.

 

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