Okay, I am waxing nostalgic. Post class reunion times do this to me. I’ll try to put to words how I feel about reunions and it has to do with the people. It is all about the people. It is about the people with whom I spent the first quadrant of my life. I think it is part of the same curiosity that drove me to do my family genealogy; I needed to find out where I came from because no one decided to share that along the way. Those ancestors I never knew still played a role in the person I became. It is kind of like they were the foundation of the quilt of my life. And these people, who knew me first in life, and who touched me along the way, they each added to my life as well.
Several of my classmates are quilters and I think life is kind of like a patchwork quilt. What does yours look like? My quilt is made more beautiful by all the various and unusual pieces. Some are colorful, some corners a little bit dark, but overall, I think my life quilt is plain to see.
Along the path we walk in life, I like to think each person we meet is a permanent connection. A thread or web connects each of us. We have interacted and made some sort of change to each other, it is undeniable. Some of these interactions are small and others more intense-- each becomes a unique design with a special place on my life’s quilt. While my life moves on in a more or less linear way, the patchwork that went on before is plain to see.
Some connections are brief and other connections continue for life and those quilt blocks are the most beautiful and elaborate in their design as the work there is on going. The people who have invested in me and our friendship help make my life quilt really beautiful.
The other patch pieces are no less beautiful. They may be more simple and plain—but there is beauty in simplicity as well. Okay, so maybe a few patches are DONE. We all have parts of our lives where the doors are closed. With reunions, I get to revisit those simpler quilt blocks and realize there is more work to be done—that some of the simple blocks are not finished. So, with each reunion, I surprise myself how much more gets added to my quilt. The end result is a more beautiful work of art. It is like this added treasure that was there for the discovery.
Maybe I am lucky. The reunions are a positive experience for me. Maybe it is because of how I look at my quilt? None of my quilt pieces were patched over, the flawed blocks are there for all to see. They sit right next to more brightly colored and more elaborate pieces. They remind me of what I have overcome. This tapestry of my life is all the better for all the people who have touched me and whom I have touched along the road of life. It is all about the people. And this quilt of mine, well it is far from being complete. It is one of those projects I keep adding new pieces to and I can revisit work I have done in the past and add more. My quilt, like my life, is an going work of art.