High School Reunions: A Centrifugal Force of Modern Life

          By  Vic Odarve    

High school reunions are actually a centrifugal force in modern life. It is a get-together affair that takes on a whole new meaning as we get older, a gathering to reminisce and to relive the fun and feel that we had experienced in high school, and a rare chance to spend some moments with our classmates who were a part of the story of our lives. With all indications, high school reunions are like a centrifugal force pulling our classmates to meet together. Yes, time passes differently as we get older, and class reunions take on a whole new meaning. As the person’s age is over 60, we are merely aging, both physically and mentally. In our long struggle with time, the get-together affair seems to be a clock to stop the aging process. The excitement and renewed camaraderie that could result from attending the reunion may bring us back in time. Singing at the videoke,  telling stories of bygone days, and going to the beach together may put the time to a standstill. Of course, some of our classmates are older than you would like them to be, and you, too, realize that you are also advancing in age and appearance.

The gathering allows us to reminisce and relive those thrilling high school days. It is joyful to reunite with the girls and boys with whom you shared your first love and first lusts. Some also retold stories about our teachers who were good, and a handful of teachers we never forget. We never forget the teachers known for having a scary stage persona during classroom lessons. But to the more serious classmates during our high school, they never forget those teachers that pulled them from the depths of abysmal academic achievement into one of the top-performing students.

 

Picnic time, Batch ’73

The reunions also offer us a rare chance to spend a moment with our classmates after many years of not seeing each other. It is just a way of revisiting your friends that you lost track of after graduating high school. Meeting them is more significant in our lives simply because they were part of ours and we were a part of theirs. This is the time to know that some are already gone while others are still living. The usual practice of giving a souvenir, such as a T-shirt, is simply a memento that once upon a time we had to share some moments with our high school classmates.

Although in our modern times we have several social media sites, such as Facebook, to find our high school classmates’ whereabouts at our fingertips, reunions are more powerful ways to reconnect, relive our memories, and see our classmates face-to-face. Nowadays, high school reunions are enjoying a resurgence in popularity.

Reunion is indeed a centrifugal force uniting our classmates. As our lives are journeys, spending time at a reunion is a moment to cherish before we finally reunite with the Holy One sitting on the throne.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eboY-Pe7G0M

The Twilight Years of our Life

 

      By  Vicodarve

We are all getting older, whether we like it or not, and the "elderly" period of our existence has two sides to challenge: a dreadful stage or rather comfortable living conditions.

In our sophisticated culture, it is common for poor households to have senior members in appalling conditions. Without assistance from their sons or daughters or from the government, they are left to live alone in their homes. On the other side, wealthy seniors naturally spend their golden years in the homes of their children, grandchildren, family members, and friends, where they are shown a lot of tender love and care.

Casimero Dagangon-103 yrs old
Village of Mayana

The first picture remains a dreadful one. Incapacitated elderly, who usually have a long decline in health, suffer most; they are incapable of continuing to live independently. In most cases, key members of the family or dear relatives simply abandon or do not extend the needed help. Some of them are bedridden and paralytic, and others are stricken with diseases that place them in very deplorable conditions. They clearly need valuable assistance, compassion, understanding, and kindness from a well-minded individual.

On the other hand, there are some elderlies who still enjoy life, living together with their children or grandchildren as they have done since the beginning. Of course, the majority are traditionally supported by relatively affluent families and lifelong friends. Most of them typically receive modest pensions and other potential benefits from governments. They are properly treated as members of their children’s families with basic needs in social life. This instantly reminds us to properly take care of our own dear children at the prime of our lives.

No one really knows how long a person lives. For those who are not fortunate enough, they typically end their twilight years in the government homes for the aged, away from their beloved children and legitimate grandchildren, relatives, and friends. As in most cultural traditions, parents who care about their children during the thick and thin of their lives and able to manage a knitted family, ending their twilight years under the affectionate arms of their children.

Despite notable advances in the modern medical profession, all of us are getting older with the passing years. The conscious thought of what might happen to us as we cross over to the dark side of old age is a real drama of our life. Recently, my neighbor living in a village received a cash award for having reached 100 years old.

Civilized mankind must return from dust to dust, but before coming out onto the world stage, an unspeakable old age presses people down, rendering them either living in a deplorable or well-cared-for stage in their lives. The fundamental fact is that most of us come to a frail stage, and whether we like it or not, that twilight of our lives is a reality that everyone must accept.

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