Commentary: Nothing quite like a high school class reunion to give you a dose of reality

By BEN OLSON/For The Herald — In a week, I’ll be returning to the town in which I grew up and spent much of my life.

I’m going to meet some old friends to celebrate the fact that it’s been 50 years since we got out of high school. It is a little incomprehensible — why, it was just a little while ago that we were doing all those things that teenagers do, yet it also seems as though it was a movie I had watched and someone else was playing me.

Yes, I’m 68, but I don’t feel old. There are a lot of things I don’t do anymore, but there’s hardly enough time in the day to do all the things that I still do. It wouldn’t surprise me, though, if, when I see how old all my classmates look, reality will give me a good slap in the face.

Whoever I run into will be one of the survivors, and everyone will have a story about the path they chose to get to this point in life.

Many of the 126 members of the class of ‘71 didn’t make it far. Four died in car wrecks before our graduation day, some got worn down by life and did themselves in, and others fell victim to health problems that they couldn’t overcome. An even dozen have fallen off the face of the Earth — no one in our class has any idea as to where they are or what they’re doing.

There won’t be a lot more road trips to my old hometown, even though my brother and many of my friends still live there. Someday, driving four days each way across the heart of America will seem like more than I’ll want to tackle, but not yet, though. I’ll enjoy this time and one more October in Wisconsin.

Inevitably, there will be a lot of catching up with people I might not have seen since high school. Knowing a little about human nature, I think everyone will be putting a spin on how well these last 50 years have gone. Who would want to show up at a reunion to admit that they got steamrolled by life?

Most folks will be retired, some will have made enough money to retire in their dream home or where they never have to shovel snow off their driveway again. There’ll be talk about, as well as pictures of kids, grandkids and even great-grandkids. I did my part and had kids, but they haven’t carried it onto the next step yet.

I’ll be able to boast about the fact that I’m becoming creative in my golden years — writing a column for the paper, one-act plays for the local repertory theater and songs, some silly, some with a message. I’m still out there trying to make my way as a working musician, always in search of good songs and better arrangements.

None of this pays very well — some of it doesn’t pay at all, but it brings me a lot of happiness. I’ve done a lot of things in my life that didn’t pay very well and involved a lot of hard work, but what I’m doing now truly is fun.

I look forward every day to trying to express myself in a way that might entertain some folks. A person needs to have a reason to get up each morning and face the day and I’ve found mine.

I’m looking forward to my big road trip, but I’m already thinking how nice it will be to get back to Oakridge.

Oakridge musician Ben Olson, entertainment editor and columnist for The Herald, can be reached by email at [email protected]