Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Going Home


Last weekend I went to my hometown for my 30th High School Reunion. The place where I grew up is on the beach and in the woods and surrounded by apple orchards and artichoke fields. The smell of ocean and fog are buried deep in me. That place and the people I knew there are, as my friend Shannon put it, "part of my DNA."

The night of the party had a dreamlike quality to it. People that seem to live only in my mind were standing in front of me. Friends looked like their younger selves by way of their parents. Memories came rushing of happy times and tragedies, real and imagined. There was intrigue and love lost and love found and love lost again. I felt that sting from tears while laughing and crying and a deep feeling of overwhelm. I was surprised that it was so fun and so difficult at once. It was a lot.

I have another home somewhere else now. I have my own family. And the hometown faraway place will always be home and these people I see so rarely anymore will always be family. It's just like that.

26 comments:

  1. Another wonderful post detailing an experience I also had in August for a 25th year gathering. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think this is exactly how it's supposed to be. So glad you had this experience.

    XOXO

    A.

    ReplyDelete
  3. These HS reunions are so out of place and time, yet so in our marrow. It's too much to even quantify, I agree--and yet you totally nailed it.

    I love your writing Miss Lisa.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Not surprised to find that you are a NorCal girl at heart. x0 N2

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wonderful shot of the "cement boat," as I always called it. Desktop fodder. Your writing tingles, and I like it.

    Gm.

    ReplyDelete
  6. We are fortunate to have grown up in a special place in a special time. That still resonates with everyone I encounter in this "life after". Thankful....... Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  7. this just made the event much more worthwhile, eloquently put, as always you are! glad we could do it, glad we could go to a farm, glad we could just hang out. Most importantly, I am glad we could hug and speak in person.

    ReplyDelete
  8. So glad you went and had fun. I think you have to be in the right frame of mind to embrace the experience, but if you are, it can be magical.

    ReplyDelete
  9. so good to see you!!! love you and your new family big time <3 <3 <3

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is lovely and probably why I continue not to attend my HS reunions. HS was such a disjointed time and place; the people and place that are buried deep in my heart came just a wee bit earlier.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is the reunion experience I have found EXACTLY. So glad to see folks. So glad to go home (that isn't where the reunion is).

    Your blog is so - there - and - here. Thank you for your words. They're perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is the reunion experience I have found EXACTLY. So glad to see folks. So glad to go home (that isn't where the reunion is).

    Your blog is so - there - and - here. Thank you for your words. They're perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I told my wife that we were in a "room filled with strangers with familiar faces." I was a stranger to them too because the person they USED to know died at...well, puberty. I wondered if I was being judged by the stupid things I did as a kid.
    It was great to see everyone, but I felt little/no connection to them, only nostalgia. I enjoyed sitting with you and Jeff and hearing stories about Bob. Thanks for sharing your great writing and making me almost f e e l something. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. This was beautiful, Lisa. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I remember feeling even more disconnected at mine, more than I felt in high school.

    So many people knew so much about each other in high school, things I never knew.

    And they had all stayed in touch.

    Made me feel even more stranger in a strange land.

    ReplyDelete