Together...Again

Long, long ago, in a far away land, a very rural land, a group of villagers sent their children to this place for an education. For nine years those 40 children spent their days together, learning how to read, write and play dodge ball. Some of the children were short. Some were tall. Some were smart, and some rode the short bus. Most fell somewhere in between, but they were always together. Each year they moved to a new classroom, got a new teacher and learned new things, but they were always together. They played games like kickball and H-O-R-S-E.
They got spankings. They wrote sentences. They played on the basketball teams and made cheerleader….together. They kissed each other behind the bleachers, shared each other’s lunches and smoked two, count ‘em two Kool cigarettes on the playground…together. They did the President’s Physical Fitness Challenge, learned their multiplication tables and had an RC Cola and Moon Pie party…together. They rode school buses and took field trips to gather leaves and eat Dairy Queen treats together. From Kindergarten through eighth grade these 40 boys and girls were side by side not realizing how close they had grown.

In the year 1978 these boys and girls donned prairie dresses and blue tuxedos and graduated together from the little learning place in the country. They danced the night away to songs by the Jackson 5 and Leo Sayer and promised to always stay together. They scattered like the four winds to big dangerous places called high schools but came back together in 1981.
Alas, it would be the last time many of them would see each other for many years. Life in the village was hard. The children, now grown, had responsibilities. Time slipped away and before they knew it, thirty years had passed.

Then one day, one classmate who lived in the far away village called Louisiana, emailed another classmate and said, “I’m coming home during Labor Day weekend. Let’s get together.” And that classmate said, “Hey, I’ll call a few old classmates and see if they can meet us.” And she did. And they did…get together. Eleven of the classmates gathered again…after thirty years. These folks came.
And now they look like this.
They laughed. And laughed.
And laughed. And it was like time stood still. Like they had never parted. After four hours of stories and laughter and pictures they hugged and promised to get together again soon. Because they realized what a special bond they had, a bond that most people don’t have. They realized that they had grown up in a very special place during a very special time and had forged very special friendships that have a fairy tale like quality. They realized they will always..in some way….be together.