Old Friends

Yesterday we got up bright and early and were on the road by 8am to go to a college Campus Crusade for Christ reunion. After 2 1/2 long hours in the car we arrived at Mary Jo's house. We were the first there even though we had the furthest drive. It was good to see Mary Jo again after about 10 years. It is funny how so often we think that people are going to look and be so different than when we knew them and yet they aren't.

Second to arrive was Jim. He is married with 3 children and is an Indian State Trooper. Josiah was so excited to see the police car and ran out to meet Jim. He asked him very nicely if he could take a look at the car. Jim said that before we left he would show Josiah his police car. Mike and Angie with their two children arrived next, followed shortly by Kyle, Laura and their three children. The crowd was growing exponentially. Sherry, my really good friend, and her daughter soon came. Her husband and 2 sons were at a men's conference having some bonding time. Julie came later and so did Paul. This was most of our core group of friends when we were in college attending Campus Crusade for Christ. It had been about 10 years since many of us had seen each other and for others it was even longer than that. We did miss seeing Jo Ann and her family though.

We had so much fun. After eating hamburgers, hotdogs and lots of yummy desserts we sat around reminiscing about the "old days" while the children ran circles around the house. Josiah thought Caleb, Kyle and Laura's oldest son, was just the best. He chased him around all day. Caleb eventually just had to hide from Josiah to get some peace. Cheyenne, Sherry's daughter, said she was going to take Josiah home with her because he was, "so cute!"

It was interesting to see what each of us had been doing for the last 15 years and also to see how our personalities were just the same as they were then, just toned down slightly. Sherry was just as bubbly and crazy as she has always been. In fact before her and Cheyenne got there, Cheyenne had asked her to please not be too crazy and embarrass her. Don't we all feel that way about our parents at some point, and isn't it a relief to think we all get over it at some point too.Julie brought a bunch of old pictures for us to look at and laugh at. Several of the girls agreed that they liked the "big hair" days and secretly wished that was still "in".
At about 4pm we all decided that we needed to round up the kiddos and pack up for our trips home. Jim stayed true to his word and we all went outside to take a look at the police car. I think this was the highlight of Josiah's day. He got to sit in the car and turn the lights on. He got out and went to look at all the lights that he had turned on. Right before we left, Jim showed us the big take down and cuffed several of the boys. Josiah watched and then said he wanted a turn. He walked up to Jim, turned around and looked down as if he had really done something deserving of handcuffs. It was too funny. I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get a shot of that, but I did get a picture of him being cuffed. Josiah's hands were a little small and he could easily just slip out of them.

A grand day was had by all. We agreed that we would do this again soon and try to track down more people next time. Should be fun!