And There's Always Retrospect to Light a Clearer Path...

...every five years or so I take a look back on my life and I have a good laugh...

Ticket to class reunion (open bar): $25.00
Filling up the Jeep en route: $32.00
Tolls paid: $10.00
Ticket issued by Princeton PD for illegal turn: $85.00 (d'oh!)
Seeing what's become of your graduating class: Priceless

That's right - I attended my five year class reunion this weekend. It seems that the concensus among my older friends is that not much changes in the 5 years between highschool and college graduation and that it's the 10 year reunion where the shit show is in full force. I suppose I agree for the most part. Some people had "filled out," others were rockin' the Skeletor look, nobody was bald yet - although I can already tell who's on their way to the comb over...

I guess the real point of the weekend (other than the alumni association pitching us to donate the moths from our pockets) was to reconcile what has changed with what remains the same. The open bar as social lubricant really helped the situation, I feel! Honestly, I went for two reasons 1) Shear morbid curiosity at the thought of how people's lives had changed 2) To reconnect with the friends I had in highschool whom I don't keep as good of touch with as I really should.

I think the best part about going back was that i'm comfortable with who I am and what i've done with myself over the past five years. I think my friend Katie put it best by saying: "I'm a better version of the person that I was back in highschool." I hope the same holds true for me.

Other entertaining moments included realizing that the last time I drank with all these kids, we were in some backyard or field somewhere - totally underaged and spooked that the cops were going to show up (which they always did). I never got in trouble with the cops in highschool - nope, I had to go back to my reunion to get pulled over for making an illegal right on red (believe me, it could have been worse).

I guess if this is supposed to be some kind of mile marker in life, i'm feeling pretty good about things, maybe i'm on the right track.