Reminisce

 

Recently sat down with some old high school buddies and over a beer reminisced. I recorded it so I could listen to it back.

To reminisce is to indulge in enjoyable recollection of past events.

There was a high school reunion and I couldn’t wait to attend. I didn’t have any special stories or looking for anyone else who had survived this long, but just be in a room with the remainders of boys and girls who shared classes over a half century ago. I didn’t recognize anyone and no one knew who I was. Name tags don’t relate to not being in the same high school club.

The best part of being this age in a room of strangers is history can be misinterpreted. Facts get foggy over the years, so make up reminisce.

Trying to write a memoir from snippets of memories, truths and lies of the ages. Some have references to fact-check. Others are dreams pulled out of the clouds. Without someone else who also experienced the event, the conformation is only your interpretation.

A few that are left can remember an instance with a chuckle with a brew. Their point of view may be changed by time. Tall tales start short.

History books may not document it, but family stories around the dinner table make what will be remembered. If googled, recorded happenings may show up, but who believes that?

What did you do after graduation? When did you get married? Who did you have your first sexual encounter with? Where were you during the Chicago 68 political riots? Where were you after Kent State? Which struck you more…Jimi Hendrix drowning on his own vomit or Bobby Kennedy getting shot in the kitchen?

If you have not visited with someone in many years gone by, they might not remember (or want to talk about) personal items. Some want to forget or over time, reframe the narration.

Time requires a different appearance, so a reflection into the past may take a photo to reminisce. If the other person had an intimate relationship at the time, they may not want to reminisce, especially in front of their current significant other. How awkward is it to be the third cog in a sentimental conversation?

There may be video tapes with sound to compare with the current session. Maybe the voice has changed or the subject of the conversation is more about pains and problems other than silly goofy jokes and ribbing each other.

Time to go back to my memoir, like digging through the notes in the family bible or that truck upstairs with those grainy photos of people at the beach no one recognizes.