Twenty Five Years Ago

Tomorrow, I am driving to Iowa with a friend that I met in 1987 when we were both freshman at Grinnell College. I did not major in mathematics but if my calculations are correct, we've known each other for nearly 29 years - more than half our lives. 

We spent today singing old songs and trying to piece together memories of that distant past as we prepare for a weekend immersed in nostalgia.

We also spent some time working on the script for the class dinner since we'll be emceeing together. As part of the process, we pondered the question, "What was the worst part of Grinnell?" We talked about the food and he mentioned the stress but when it came time for me to add something, I couldn't. I can't think of a single thing that I actually hated.

Freebird is no joke, y'all.

It's possible that I simply don't remember. After all, I also drifted through several parts of conversations saying, "I don't remember who that is" and "Really? I don't remember that." 

It's possible that those years have benefitted from the passage of time and the human desire to remember the good.

Whatever the reason, I think of them as halcyon days. 

This weekend, I'll get to see some of the people who had the greatest impact on my life and we'll laugh and sing and reminisce and it will feel like time travel. It's been 25 years since graduation and though time is evident in my gray hair and the evidence of my life lived, it feels like no time at all.