Last weekend in Iowa City, I accompanied my darling wife to her twenty year High School reunion. In all our previous visits to the US, we had never ventured beyond the Minnesota border, so the road trip alone was always going to be exciting.
[NOTE TO DEAR FRIENDS AND FAMILY IN THE TWIN CITIES: I love spending time with you, and most of my time in the USA in Minnesota. The chance to learn more about Martha's past in Iowa is just too enticing]
Here are a few of my experiences and observations:
Our hosts, Bret and Val, are a couple of the world's best quality and nicest people. Bret, a long term P&G company man (and Martha's class mate) represents so much of all that is good about the USA and peace-loving Americans. He is a seriously good guy, and had he not been such good friends with Martha, probably would have married or at least, dated her.
His wife Valerie, also a native Iowan and a damn fine theatre nurse, exudes intelligence, compassion, empathy and love. She is someone who has accepted some challenges, including those associated with having a brain injured child. She lives her life in a way that brings joy to many, especially Bret, Orion and Aiden, and leaves no doubt in anyone else's mind that they can participate, co-operate, share it... or get out of the way. She makes good decisions. As a couple, Bret and Val support each other and could epitomise the good stuff we scarcely hear about Americans these days.The reunion of West High's Class of 86
The fact that there were two high schools - "City" and "West" in Iowa City speaks volumes. No stories of when "we beat City" or claims of victorious raids or other rivalry, just a calm recognition that, although City won everything, we are proud of our West heritage.
Bret, surrounded by classmates, some who had travelled a long way to be there and some of whom still live locally but with whom he had lost contact, could not stop beaming. This was infectious.
"Brian," and you know who you are, re-introduced himself to my increasingly beaming wife as the boy she had kissed - his first snog. Martha later told me that there were at least five classmates there that she had snogged.
As a classmate's spouse, I felt welcome and increasingly curious to learn about what such a significant part of my significant other's life represented. It was fun to meet other people in a true spirit of friendship and celebration, and where most were able to check any remaining high school insecurities at the door.
As the only Australian present, it was easy to converse with everyone. My name tag, like all of the name tags of the classmate spouses, was inscribed with the name of the respective classmate to whom I am married. It gave me a good sense of authentication, and secretly, I was thinking "well she night have dated or snogged you, but she married me!" Perhaps not all of us checked their insecurities at the door, after all!
High school crushes, friendships renewed, contact details updated, reminiscing complete for now, the ripple effects of the event will continue. Who knows what will happen to this remarkable group of people who happened to form the graduating class of West High 1986 in the next twenty years? If I am invited, I for one want to know. What a wonderful collection of Gen-X, and now, all with a permanent link with this Boomer.More about the road trip and our reunion visit with a great friend in North Dakota in the next post.
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