Well, I looked at him, and I said, "John? It's me. Paul Toffanello," to which he replied "Tuffy! How are you?" We hugged.
There is a moment early in the recognition process where your brain happily seeks out information and clues in a game-like process to identify features and voice signals that serves the memory to satisfaction. I swear, it is an exciting process, because there is a joy in the recognition that brings true meaning to the concept of "reunion." A joy that one can only experience in the trepid moments of meeting people who you are afraid you won't recognize. As with me and John Ward.
In our brief reunion, we tried to share the 40 years in between our last encounter - an encounter as friends in high school. Accomplishments. Children. Careers. Location. Successes. Dreams realized and otherwise. So much in such a short time frame, but I realized then that we hold these kinds of memories in treasured confidence, and in the first moments of "reunion" it all just seems to come out like an unexpected geyser, one shared treasured memory after another.
Reunions let you celebrate the connection between those who have been part of your life - no matter how small a part - and reflect on the significance of these relationships. John and I were never best friends, and we didn't hang around a lot together, but we had a strong connection nonetheless - one that celebrated friendship, kinship, trust, respect, and, most importantly, shared memories of a brief time of engagement in our lives. It was a time of growing up, a time of transitioning from teenagers to young adults, a time of pulling away from our parents and home and dreaming of a future that would hold nothing but success and prosperity.
Of course, we all know what happens next. Life. In its best form, it provides us with experiences of joy and sorrow, defeat and success, celebration and tragedy. On balance, none of us escapes life's offerings. But a reunion seems to offer a brief respite from all of that; a moment in time where, despite the challenges of being human, we can appreciate one another for who we are, who we have become and how very important we are to one another.
At the last reunion in 2000, I had the opportunity to address a longstanding regret with someone who was a very important person in my life; a regret that lingered for more than 25 years. The reunion offered me that moment in time to be with this person, to apologize for the hurt that I had brought to the relationship, and to ask forgiveness - which was generously and magnanimously given. I continue to hold this person close to my heart, and would like to believe that we are friends, undisturbed now by grief.
In reflection of the weekend, I'd like to address the Social Media Generation, the majority of those absent from the reunion. It was said over and over again how social media - facebook, twitter, youtube, email, etc. - was likely the cause for so many alumni from the 1990's to present day to be missing from the ranks of the celebrants this past weekend. Whether we were all looking to defend them, or, perhaps, looking to excuse them (because so many of them are, of course, our children), I have only one thing to say:
You can't possibly know what you missed this past weekend and how valuable an occasion it was!
By not engaging in the physical presence offered through a reunion, you miss the voice, the touch, the raised eyebrow, the laughter, the hugs, the sharing - all of the things that Facebook can't deliver in its unaffected silence. It is human contact at its very best. It is reaching out in a way that can only occur in reunion with one another, and it is a rare occasion to reflect on who your are, how far you've come and, perhaps, where you may be going in the months and years ahead.
I urge you, new generation, to connect beyond the screen in front of you - the one that allows you to read this blog. Connect with those with whom you had shared a very short, yet significant time in high school - even those with whom you may not have had a relationship. These are the people who are, in large part, a measure of who you are today.
And to all those who participated in both the 2000 and 2012 TH&VS reunions, I say: Thank You! I miss you already. Stay in touch!
