A few years ago I was inundated with emails enthusiastically proclaiming the joy I would feel as I reconnected with old friends in the gala setting of my fiftieth high school reunion. I remained steadfastly unmoved to action. I never responded, not even to fill out the contact information form they included. I didn’t want to encourage communication. I had very carefully abstained from participation in any high school alumni activity for almost fifty years and wasn’t about to change at this late date.
There was a little tug, however, when I noticed that the girl who first captured my heart as we sat across from each other in the sixth grade was one of the organizers of the event. I remember her as being cute, athletic and what I would now call strong of character.