It's A Wonderful Life*

In light of all the grad ceremonies taking place I thought it might be a good time to repost this entry from the summer of my High School 30 Year Reunion. You never know how one small kindness will be remembered.

I used to think classmates.com was a little cheesy, maybe even a little scary. But Friday I received an email through a brother from one of my former classmates asking me to get in touch with her. After going on classmates.com and making sure I had the right name and looking her up in the yearbook from high school to ensure I was thinking about the right person, I replied to her email. She wrote back today and shared a couple fun memories. I’ve paraphrased a bit for brevity and privacy.

We attended different elementary schools. In sixth grade, our two schools joined in a playday at our future Junior High school to get to know each other. She remembers: “We played a game of softball. I remember you slugged the ball way out in the field, I think it was a home run.”

I had seven older brothers. Softball was my game. I was terribly competitive and wanted to be the best hitter EVER. Too bad my fielding wasn’t as good as my hitting. Ha.

Then she confesses: “In high school another friend and I were papering you one night. One of your neighbors stuck a .22 rifle in my back and we had to quickly explain to him that papering was something teenagers did to show they really liked each other and they were good friends. He didn't buy it and we quickly left your house!”

I never knew who toilet papered the yard. I didn’t understand why they hadn’t done a better job. Now this explains it. I also never knew my neighbour had a gun.

And then she continues: “The hardest day of high school was when I thought I hadn’t made the cut to be in (the prestigious drum and bugle corps). I remember getting on the bus in despair and on the back of that bus you sang the whole song 'Why do the birds keep on singing........ Don't they know it's the end of the world'. I'll never forget that. When I got home I found out that I had simply missed seeing my name at the very bottom of the list and had made it after all - the rest is history.”

She ended up being bagpipe captain her senior year. Song credit to The Carpenters.
I guess all my prayers for God to "please help me be nice" did get answered at least once.

And then a compliment for my oldest brother: “Your brother was one of my favorite teachers all through school. He not only taught us sixth grade English, Math, etc., but taught us how to respect God, our country, and our fellow classmates."

That’s my bro!

I can’t believe how touching the roots from your past can help you clarify your significance in someone’s life. Small stuff, but important enough that this sweet woman remembers something silly I did over 30 years ago. Wow. Life matters.

*If you've never watched the movie - you have missed out on a lot of life!