Thomas Wolfe wrote the classic novel You Can Never Go Home Again. On the one hand, we keep thinking that Wolfe was wrong, yet our world experiences often tell a different story. Nothing in this world remains static. Some things deteriorate, others ripen, including people.
I recently went to my high school reunion. It was not out of nostalgia or fondness for the good old days. The best thing I can say about those days is that they are old. No, it was not to reunite with old friends or relive the “remember-when-we . . .” moments. I had not seen a single classmate since leaving those hallowed halls of adolescent tomfoolery. I went to the reunion purely out of curiosity—to see how time treated my fixed memory of the class of 1965. My expectations were not at all high, not having any ongoing relationships.