This weekend I had the pleasure of attending my 40th (yikes), I did say my 40th high school reunion. It was great catching up with every one and seeing people that you usually only get to see every ten years. Hearing about families, the work each is doing and how far their lives have come was a validation of how far I have come since leaving Okeechobee all those years ago.

As I watched the Homecoming festivities unfold, I was reminded of how important those things were to us when we were that age and how unimportant they seemed now. We longed for spirit week, homecoming parades, band performances and all the activities of the time. They seemed the most important things in life. While in ways they prepared for what was to come, today being in the “in crowd” or being picked for a homecoming honor doesn’t seem that important in the grand scheme of life.

The one thing that was sobering about this reunion is how many people we have lost. In a class of just over 200, greater than 20 have already left us. People who made us laugh, cry and love have seen their time come to an end way too early in life. It was a big reminder of the importance of living every day, keeping in contact with those that you care about most and living your life for all it can be.

Reunions have a way of not only reminding you of who you are and where you came from, they are also a reminder of who you have become. The work that you did in those early years, that seemed so trivial at the time, set us all on the course for the people that we have become today. It is no longer we and they like it was in high school. It is now us as we have all made it to the this point of our lives at the same exact time.

Mornings with Ron is now available as a podcast at anchor.fm/morningswithron or on iHeartRadio, Apple or Google podcast, Spotify or most podcast sites.