1987 WWVA Graduates 20 years later.
Where is home? Is it the place one was raised? The place where one’s parents reside? Or is it the unspoken place, where, when asked, you respond. I’ve lived in San Francisco nearly 14 years, longer than anyplace that I’ve lived as a child. It is home, though if I were to move away, would it become my reference point? Will I journey back? Or is it my temporary home, a temporary community?
I met old friends from high school and was pleasantly surprised by the familiarity of the company. Would we, in a different time and place, be friends? Or is our friendship something that we have due to shared past experiences? I just finished reading Michael Thomas Fords', Changing Tides, and as is the case of many of my favorite novels, there is not a single narrator. Each major character had an internal voice, which others in the novel could not hear, which for me, the reader allowed a truly vicarious experience.
Talking about the past, I really enjoyed catching up with Kimberly and Kerri, we each had unshared secrets and stories. Over the course of the evening, we shared a few of our personal stories, which with like the characters in the book, provided a more complete picture of a shared time in our lives. In hindsight, this information added layers to my perspective of my past with new details, details that as teenagers, I’m not sure we could have freely shared in the way that we shared as adults.
What would our friendships have been like if we were as open as we are as adults? I’m not sure. I think the process of growing, discovering, and feeling isolated molded us into the adults we became. Maybe this is the essence of being a child, not knowing how to communicate, not knowing that we are measured by who we are, not by the friends that surround us, the job that we have, the building we walk into for worship services, or the decisions, for better or worse that we made.
We thought we had answers and the isolated culture we lived in provided boundaries. This was not a bad thing, because it was a very clear that poor decisions could eliminate the world that we were familiar with, which resulted in things being done on the down-low. It also made us accountable in the sense that consequences were evident.
What things in my past would have embarrassed the family if known? And perhaps, while living under my parent’s roof, that fear of embarrassing my parents kept me in line. As an adult, I’ve made different decisions, based on an internal monitor and that awareness is comforting.
Frank and I returned home to San Francisco, and I believe there will always be a place in my heart for Walla Walla and the people that were part of my life at that time. But I miss the diversity of our home. Walking to work, sharing transportation with people of all colors, shapes, sizes and beliefs, is refreshing … comforting, like being at home should be.
We thought we had answers and the isolated culture we lived in provided boundaries. This was not a bad thing, because it was a very clear that poor decisions could eliminate the world that we were familiar with, which resulted in things being done on the down-low. It also made us accountable in the sense that consequences were evident.
What things in my past would have embarrassed the family if known? And perhaps, while living under my parent’s roof, that fear of embarrassing my parents kept me in line. As an adult, I’ve made different decisions, based on an internal monitor and that awareness is comforting.
Frank and I returned home to San Francisco, and I believe there will always be a place in my heart for Walla Walla and the people that were part of my life at that time. But I miss the diversity of our home. Walking to work, sharing transportation with people of all colors, shapes, sizes and beliefs, is refreshing … comforting, like being at home should be.
