Impressions of two weeks in Singapore: an island nation on the equator, a country of almost 6 million people, a land crowded with high rises, fantastic food, intense heat, high humidity, and, of course, Andrew's home.
A family reunion and the college graduation of his grandniece coaxed us to travel to the other side of the globe. What memories will endure with these fresh-faced young graduates? And what will they recall decades from now about their experiences?
Last summer I finally attended a high school reunion of my own, and it left me with these thoughts.
High School Reunion
Tonight everyone's an intimate: the Army
recruiter and the dissident, the accountant
and the artist.
Yet when did this classmate become
so rotund, that one so drawn?
And why did my own friends not attend?
Not interested or lingering adolescent angst?
Like memories of a carpool
that picked up my neighbor and left me
at the bus stop: nose buried in books,
feigning disdain, and no date for the dance.
Friendships with kindred spirits thwarted:
one lived across town, another belonged
to the opposite sex.
Significant roadblocks to teenage rapport.
Tonight without fallback confidants
I linger with others from classes past,
and find affinity.
The night's end underscores
"What might have beens," as promises
to "Keep in touch" drift
like casual motes on the evening air.
Marilyn Aschoff Mellor
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