"Today, Tomorrow, and Always"

Awhile back, I received my facebook invitation to my 10 year high school reunion. I put this lovely piece of knowledge in the back-burner of my mind, but am now realizing that June is right around the corner...(Thank You Jesus, because I'm ready for some warmer weather). I've just now begun to seriously think about actually making the trip back to Central Texas for the blessed event.

It's funny to think over the past 10 years...facebook didn't even exist yet, and now it's the only way I'm connected enough to know about my reunion. In fact, I think it's the only way anyone in my class knows about it. I'm 100% confident that my generation will be responsible for the demise of the postage stamp and the sprial-corded telephone as mediums for communication. The next generation may altogether decide that as a human race, we no longer need to speak and can communicate only through text messages and emails. I take that back...this process may already be underway.

The world was very different in May of 2001 when I graduated high school...or maybe I was just much more oblivious. No, I think it was really different. 9/11 hadn't happened yet. Nobody had ever heard of Osama bin Laden. You could get on an airplane with your bottle of shampoo in a carry-on. Every American truly believed the USA was the wealthiest and biggest super-power country in the world. Well, at least I did at that time. It's amazing to me how fast the world is changing. I remember as a teenager thinking that my parents didn't understand the world I was growing up in. I'm confident I will have no idea what kind of world my children grow up in, and that's really scary.

I have great memories of that time...I remember how great the music was....Top 5 songs of 2001: Lady Marmalade, Fallin' by Alicia Keys, I'm Real by J-Lo, Family Affair by Mary J. Blige and Butterfly by Crazytown. OMG...what were we thinking? I can hear those songs blaring in the background of a slumber party where us girls inevitably thought it was a good idea to paint our toenails and then go jump on a trampoline. We were special.

I remember prank calling boys...mostly our guy friends who we'd all "dated" at one point or another over the past 6 years and who already knew we were dorks. I remember calling the radio station to dedicate songs...then being dissapointed that the DJ never re-played our voices on the radio. I remember actually eating rolls of cookie dough and not gaining weight. I remember watching Saved By the Bell on Saturday mornings. I remember how all the girls on my cheerleading squad had to teach me how to have rhythm so I wouldn't embarress them...I also remember going to the movie theatre with those same girls on opening night of "Bring it On" (yes, the cheerleading movie)...we may or may not have been wearing our cheerleading uniforms.

I remember trying to make my Junior ID look like a Senior ID so that I could leave campus for lunch. I remember football games and softball tournaments, and how pep rallys somehow made me feel like a rockstar. Oh man....I was really special.

I go back and forth in my mind about how badly I want to make the trip down for the reunion. Part of my brain tells me that going back may open old wounds. I'm a very different person now then I was in high school, for which I'm very grateful. I did and said things at 18 years old that I don't agree with now, things that if I remembered them all, would most likely embarress me now. The other side of that leaf is that I'm glad I can at least see some progress in my life as I get older. I should be clear that if I'm referring to progress within my own heart and mind, it can only be attributed to Jesus Christ. He is the only redeemer of my sinful past. He is the only good...like the song "He is good when there's nothing good in me".

Another part of my brain...the more "social" part of my brain, is excited for the opportunity to see some of the people that were such a big part of my life 10 years ago. Friends that no matter what happens in the future are always a part of my past. Plus, almost all of them wrote in my yearbook that we'd be BFF's forever and that they thought I was a really great person who would go far in life! I'm sure they'd all be incredibly disappointed if their BFF didn't show up.

So I'm considering it. And trying to remember the song Butterfly by Crazytown, because I can't quite remember that song...or who Crazytown is. Give me N'Sync. Give me Brittney vs. Christina vs. Jessica. Or ask me if I can remember my old high school fight song...I can...plus, I remember the moves from the pep rallys! Go Lions GO!