We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere…

It takes years to reach that conclusion. When my high school held its ten year reunion, I just had no desire to go back. Getting kicked off the debate team for disciplinary reasons was still somewhat fresh on my mind. As a new father at the time of that first reunion, I had the image of my friends still seeing me as a senior in high school ordering kegs for parties at the Cotton Club. I wrote the required biography for the book that organizers were assembling that included the part about me being a minister. I sent it off to Lubbock to be distributed at the reunion. I could almost hear my friends laughing that weekend, even though I was not there. I figured they thought I wrote that as a joke. The John they knew could not possibly pursue such a profession!

By the time the 25 year reunion rolled around, my attitude had changed. I was just beginning to realize that no matter where I went, I took a little of my friends with me. Our shared experiences were continuing to shape who I was becoming. The memories of my interactions with important people were beginning to come into better focus. I was teaching as an adjunct professor at the time, so I laughed to myself, as I noticed the ways I emulated favorite teachers in the style of my lectures. I found myself quoting sayings to my children that I had picked up from friends along the way. I also found that I was thinking more about the crew of people I grew up with. I wondered what had become of them. I knew we had all taken different paths, but I yearned for our respective journeys to find a point of intersection.

In 2003, the movie Antwone Fisher proved to be a life changing experience for me. The plot revolves around a young Navy sailor who is totally disengaged from all of his family. He is a very insecure and angry man. The Navy Psychologist played by Denzel Washington prompts him to go on a journey to find his family. It is a true story. There really is an Antwone Fisher. That made it even more compelling. As he rediscovers his family, he realizes that he is carrying a part of them with him in his own journey of life.

As I pondered the plot of the movie, I realized that I had not had any contact whatsoever with my father’s side of my family for 25 years. So the journey that continues today began in 2003. I made trips to Florida and North Carolina to visit my aging and aunt and my cousins. I made a trip to the mountains of Kentucky to see where my grandmother taught in a mission boarding school for very poor children. I searched for other cousins and contacted them via email. It continues to be an amazing experience. During each step of the experience I have realized more and more that I am quite literally carrying a part of them with me.

A similar relational excursion has taken place with childhood friends. That has led me to seek people out, make a few day trips, and of course attend the 25 year high school reunion. More recently it entailed a trip back to Wisconsin to reengage with friends from elementary school and junior high. During that trip I realized once again that each of them had shaped my life in such meaningful ways.

There are two more reunions on the horizon. This weekend I will see some of those same childhood friends in Round Rock. Our 30 year high school reunion will take place in Lubbock in July. Some of my friends are very reluctant to attend the 30 year reunion. Not me. In fact, my attitude has changed even since we reunited 5 years ago.

I am so grateful for each of the individuals that I grew up with. Why? Because….We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere… I will carry a spirit of gratitude with me to Round Rock this weekend. I will carry the same mindset to Lubbock in July.

What a joy to celebrate the journey with such great people…