High School Reunion: Hello-Goodbye

I got the news yesterday that a childhood friend of mine died on Friday. He, I'll call him O for short, was 39 and I hadn't seen him since my 15 year high school reunion five years ago but the news stunned me.

Let me back up and explain a little about my high school experience. I went to the same school from kindergarten through my senior year of high school. It was affiliated with the church I attended at the time and to say it was different than public school or even a catholic school is an understatement. There are two movies that combined would give you a fairly clear view of what the school was like. They are Saved,and Jesus Camp. The school was quite strict and many students either dropped out of school as a result or were kicked out of school for minor infractions. By the time my senior year of high school came around only 12 of about 30 original students were still attending my school. So, our 15 year "high school" reunion was really a reunion of all the people who originally attended the school whether they graduated or not.

O was one of the people who attended the reunion but who hadn't actually graduated from my school. But I remember the years he was there. My older sister and I used to carpool with O and his brother. My sister would drive like a bat out of hell, trying to apply her mascara at each stop light while trying desperately to act non-challant at the same time. She cranked Michael Jackson's "Thriller" on the tape player. The music was contraband and it was truly thrilling for us to listen to it as loudly as we dared while keeping an eye out for any fellow church goes who might drive by. We couldn't risk allowing them to hear the music which would have gotten us suspended from school and grounded for life.

I have many fond memories of O but those daily drives to school were my favorite. I wish I could take that drive again; ride in the back seat with O, both of us rolling our eyes at my sister's reflection in the rear view mirror, tapping our feet to Michael Jackson, sharing a secret thrill.

We didn't have a 20 year reunion last summer. I would have liked to have seen O again but even then, I don't think I could have anticipated that I would never see him again. We weren't close over the last few years but it hurts enormously to recognize that all such opportunities are now gone.

I'm going to attend his funeral on Monday. It will be at our old church (I'm sure this was his mother's choice). I haven't set foot in the door for 15 years or more and I'm not looking forward to doing so on Monday. I am looking forward to paying my respects and to seeing friends I should I have connected with years ago.

O, I hope wherever you are you are rocking it old school.