memories

Back in the late '90s, even those of us who had cheap cameras didn't take a lot of pictures, especially of every day events. Film and developing costs money. Money that if we did have, we'd much rather spend on something fun than a piece of paper to tape to the wall of our locker or stick in a photo book.

CHS Class of '91 lost another classmate this weekend. I pulled out our senior yearbook and looked through our senior section, reminisced a little, but only one person had a photo to post, and she took the most pictures of anyone in our class. As much as I dislike cell phones, especially smart phones, and the rudeness they bring out in people, I do think it's neat that today's generation can easily capture a moment or a memory, and pull it up years later.

Before we marched out the night of our graduation, our principal told us to pause and slowly look around at everyone, that it might be the last time we saw a classmate, that even if we had reunions every 5 years, it was likely that by our first reunion someone might be gone. It was a sobering and killjoy thought, one of those things boring grownups say that seems so annoying and irrelevant. But I did quickly scan the class. And now 23 years later, I wish it had been a true look and not just a scan. There's something troubling to see ages read 25, 39, and 41 in an obituary, especially when the other obits read 70s and 80s. I know we all have an appointment with death, even if we don't know when it is, and none of us are guaranteed a long life. But it still troubles me, and leave me wondering what could have been.