Recently, I've spent a lot of time on a certain social network site acquiring friends. Now some of these weren't necessarily friends, as in close and personal, but they have become friends of a sort. Friendships do come at all levels. I've found former classmates, current friends, friends of friends, people I wanted to be closer friends with that just didn't get to that point, people I'd still like to be friends with, friends from church and groups within the church, friends from former neighbors, a couple 'friends' who are total strangers (adjusting privacy settings to keep them that way), and also friends from former employments, along with family and other associations. It can be quite mind-boggling. Mostly, it has been a real joy to re-connect with many of these people to see what paths their lives have taken, hopefully to see that they have, at least currently, happy and/or successful lives. Some I haven't seen or heard from in nearly 40 years.
I've also pulled out my box of memorabilia from high school. Now, 39 years later, it's sad, funny, sweet, and embarrassing all at the same time. In high school, I wasn't one amongst the popular crowd, nor was I in the 'picked on' crowd. I was, at least in my perception, within a group that was mostly invisible. It was a very small school in a very small town. We had around 70 graduates that year and everyone knew everyone else, not only at their own grade-level but in the entire high school. We have reunions every five years. We've lost several of our classmates to early deaths: suicide, accident, illness. We remember them fondly.
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