We had no clue what the future held for us. Why should we worry about such things? We were busy listening to Miss Erick read to us from the Uncle Remus children’s books in the second grade, and we were forced to square dance with each other in the fourth grade in Mr. Waltenberger’s class. There were intense marble games and all kinds of acrobatics on the monkey bars during recess. We rode our bikes all over the neighborhood, played ball at the Village Green, and turned the golf course into a winter paradise for sledding. Each of us came from imperfect homes, where our parents were facing issues much larger than the marbles we lost to our opponents on the playground. We had no clue what the future held for us.

The elementary school years flew by. The years at Jerstad Junior High went even faster. Some of us went on to Horlick High school, and some of us moved out of state. Undergraduate degrees were sought out at various institutions of higher learning. That part of our education was not an easy process for any of us.
And then life happened…We still had no clue what the future held for us.

Most of us fell in love and got married. Some chose to remain single. We had children. We all struggled to make a living and to get started in life. It was a busy time. There was not much discretionary time, when we were busy changing diapers and dealing with all of the demands of being young parents. It was also a time of getting established in a career. We tried our best to make our marriages meaningful. We did not want to repeat the mistakes of our parents. But we too stumbled. Those years flew by as well. We had no clue what the future held for our most important relationships.

We looked up one day and our kids were teenagers. Our own children were driving cars and going off to college. Their world is much different than the world we grew up in. They have grown up with the internet and constant cell phone use. They have had play stations and x-boxes for most of their lives. They have never played marbles. Monkey bars are reserved for zoos, in their mind. We have no clue what the future holds for our children.

They socialize with each other on social networking sites such as myspace and facebook. And then the old people began to invade facebook. We figured out that we too could socialize with current comrades and even reconnect with old friends that we knew in the innocent days of marbles and monkey bars. The class of 1980 from various high schools formed facebook groups and old friends slowly found each other. The immediate reactions go something like this: oh he has changed, or she looks much younger than 47! Those initial reactions go by the wayside quickly. We have no clue what the future holds for old friendships that are being rekindled.

Correspondence on facebook at some point leads to face to face interaction. We quickly discover that all of these years we have shared a lot more than marbles and monkey bars. We all grew up in homes with parents who struggled with similar issues. Most of by this point in life have buried loved ones. Our kids have had growing pains of every imaginable kind. Each of us made grievous mistakes over the years. Shared roots and life experiences form the basis for friendships that will help carry us through the next chapters of our lives. I am grateful the security, the laughter, and the loyalty that long standing friendships bring. I am going to pray for my friends whom I have rediscovered every single day, because we have no clue what the future holds.