happiness

20 Years Later…

~ thedailydish ~ Leave a comment

Weeks ago I blogged about whether or not to attend my upcoming 20 year high school reunion.  I detailed the specifics and asked readers to weigh in on the issue (via the post SHOULD I STAY or SHOULD I GO?) Thanks to many of you for offering your opinions and encouragement (and even bigger thanks to my folks for getting me a free hotel room), I made the decision to – GO FOR IT!

I spent Thanksgiving Day in Maine with my family, cooking and feasting, and the rest of the weekend traveling to & from Philadelphia for this “once in a lifetime” event.  And as promised, I’m BACK to blog all about it!  WOOT!  I’ll try not to dwell on the drive – which for a normal person would have been grueling but for someone like me (with Meniere’s) was just shy of hellish, and instead focus on the PARTY.  My 20 year high school reunion in a nutshell?  CRAZY FUN.  Truly one of the most unforgettable and surreal experiences of my life (drive included).

Picture yourself traveling back in time… 5 years.. 10 years.. 15, 20… You step into a room filled with former classmates, and…

From the moment I arrived at the reunion, I was transported – not just back to high school, but all the way to childhood.  Greeting me at check-in was a friend I’d known since I was 5, who’d slipped a Van Halen poster into my 6th grade desk to impress me.  There stood friends I’d known for YEARS, people who’d played with me as children, laughed with me as adolescents, and Yes, even dated me as teenagers.  Most of my very best friends were in attendance, all of us reunited under one roof.  And seeing each of their faces, changed after so many years, and yet so fundamentally the same, was worth every bit of the travel agony I had endured.

My 20 year high school reunion was amazing, not just because of the memories it brought back, but because of our collective present.  Teenage insecurity, awkwardness and fear be damned!  Each of us returned to this reunion armed with 20 years of personal growth.  Regardless of career choice, whether married or not, childless or not, rich /poor/ or in between, all of us are now (thankfully) adults.  And at age 38/39, most of us seem to like ourselves.

And you know what?  It shows.  From the get-go I was astounded by just how great everyone looks!  Sure, we’ve all aged, but on the whole we’re far more attractive now than we were in high school.  Why?  Because 20 years later… we’ve grown up.  And not just up; we’ve grown INTO ourselves.  As teens we thought we knew everything, but we spent more time wondering what others were thinking than ever truly thinking.  We worried, we picked, we agonized over minutia.  Time has erased many of those petty concerns, replacing them with understanding and PRIORITIES.  We’ve faced challenges, we’ve made accomplishments and we didn’t need to waste the night trying to prove anything.

Instead we enjoyed each other, and ourselves. We made chit-chat with those we recognized, we delved deep with those we’d truly known, and I for one came away changed. That’s what happens when you reunite.  You can close a chapter on your life with a smile, and without regret. Whether you’ve told someone they were special, or said you were sorry for a past wrong, reunions are an opportunity to explore another side of yourself. A former side, finally at peace with the present.  It was a wonderful night.

Huge thanks to the reunion committee for all their hard work, and to the many people whose photographs I’ve reprinted here — thanks for the memories!

Photos courtesy of Amy Eisman Kaplan, Jill Katz, Shawn Kwon-Chang, and Brian Miller, Chorus Media.
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An ode to my kitchen.

~ thedailydish ~ 14 Comments

When we began looking for a new house, we saw many kitchens.  Some were so-so, some were downright beautiful.  But none of them spoke to me.  Except to say HANDS OFF! the way a lady might slap a frisky man.  I was looking for a plow horse, but all I found were prima donnas.  Until SHE walked in.

my kitchen

My kitchen is not showy.  Like the rest of this house, it is old.  It is not cherry & granite, stainless steel, status and POWER.  It is simple.  It is trying in some ways, like an elderly relative who needs help finding their glasses.  You wonder WHY DON’T YOU JUST PUT THEM ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND? But you search for an hour anyway.  Out of love.  My kitchen has character.  That rare attribute that only comes w/ age.  From its retro counter to the curve of its built-in shelves, my kitchen makes me happy.  I like its red color.  I like the way the vintage cooktop wobbles.  I even like the way the tap leaks unless you turn it slightly to the side.  MY KITCHEN.  Like a favorite pair of sweatpants, it’s what you turn to when you’re hungry.

cooktop

Even though I don’t have a dishwasher anymore, I am not angry.  Each day & night as I wash dishes by hand, I look out my lovely window to my nice next-door neighbor’s house. I think about living in this most historic home.  I think about what it was like 250 years ago, when EVERYTHING was work.  And then I feel humbled, and grateful.  For all the modern conveniences I do have.  Like my OVEN!  Even though the dial doesn’t correspond to the temperature, so everything is guesswork – It sure beats cooking over a campfire.

my oven

And there’s my washing machine!!  Which is right there in my kitchen.

my laundry room - in my KITCHEN!

Sure, some people might think that’s odd.  But I don’t.  I am so happy – b.c I LOVE DOING LAUNDRY!!!  And I LOVE to cook.  So now I can do them at the same time!  My husband even wired the clothes dryer into the kitchen, so now I can fry bacon and dry my pants, simultaneously.  But there’s more.  The former owner – when he modernized this kitchen in the 50s, thought practically.  He knew there’d be a need for counter space as well as convenience, and he didn’t want to sacrifice one at the expense of another.  So he crafted a special countertop that lifts and/or slides out from atop the washing machine.

cool countertop

So you can access the machine whenever needed, but when not in use, it functions as normal workspace.  Pure genius!

I know you are all wondering WHERE IS THE FRIDGE??!!  WHERE DO THEY KEEP THEIR FOOOOD??!  When my husband wired the clothes dryer into the kitchen, we had to move the refrigerator into the adjacent keeping room.  Mostly b/c there wasn’t anywhere else to put it.  It took a little getting used to, but now the fridge LOVES it!

fridge in keeping room

He gets to hang out right next to the fireplace.  So he stays cozy warm, even while he’s keeping our ice cream icy cold.  Plus he likes being part of the action.  Sometimes we even throw him scraps when we’re eating.  GOOD BOY!