A Journey in Time

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Part 1

 

The postcard arrived in February:

 

Mark your calendar!
CLASS OF 1971
40 Year Reunion
September 10th, 2011

 

    Walking up the sidewalk with the mail, unmindful of all but the post card, and only vaguely aware of the late afternoon sunshine and semi-wintry Virginia temperature, I was lost in thought. 

    Forty years. 

 

    That evening I placed the announcement on display at my bedside.
    From time to time, during the ensuing months, I pondered the journey home.

 

    September arrived.
    I went online and booked a flight, then made a reservation with a Wisconsin bed-and-breakfast.

    Soon after, as the date drew near, Marcy and I flew to Milwaukee and rented a car. We attended the reunion, which was the following evening. It was held at a supper club near my hometown.

 

    The club was crowded, and noisy. Despite the clamor, I was happy to be in attendance.
    There was dinner, music and dancing, and mingling throughout.
    For three hours or so, with Marcy alongside, I encountered classmates who, four decades earlier, had been an integral part of my life, just as, likewise, I had been an integral part of theirs. As had occurred during the two previous reunions I attended, at twenty and thirty years, I was transported back in time, to a younger self, experiencing thoughts and impressions and memories that were still there, still part of me, after all the intervening years. 

    During our quiet drive afterward through the tranquil night, I reflected on the years gone by and all that had occurred since graduation day in June of 1971.

 

    Thoughts and musings presented themselves:

 

    If I could go back and speak with the person I was those many years ago, what would I say? What had been learned over the years that I would feel compelled to pass along? What observations could I make? What message could I share?

 

    There were further musings:

    During an encounter with my younger self, what would that person say to me? Would there be questions asked? If so, what would they be?

 

    And another intriguing thought:

 

    How would such an encounter occur?

 

    These introspections occupied my mind as Marcy napped peacefully beside me and, road and midnight hour to ourselves, we traversed the quiet countryside of southern Wisconsin on our way back to our B & B.

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             Part 2.

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