Ralf and I just got back from a trip to Connecticut for our 20 year high school reunion. We were in the same class and dated our last year of high school. Not having been back in 18 years, we were excited for the trip. The kids stayed home with my in-laws and had a great, carefree, parent-less week.
Madison is a small town along Long Island Sound, full of families who have populated it for generations. It takes time and effort to establish yourself in a town like this where most kids have grown up together their entire lives. Ralf and I both moved here mid growing-up years. He at the end of middle school and I my junior year of high school. The extrovert that he is, he was able to get situated quicker and easier than me, being an introvert. But we both have lots of memories of our years in Madison and were eager to reminisce.
Some realizations we took away from our trip:
- Madison is a beautiful and unique community in which to be a kid.
- The cashiers at Win-Co here in Idaho are much more interested in small talk than the cashiers at the Stop-and-Shop in Madison
- Everything grows better in humidity
- Instead of soccer lessons in the summer, the kids take sailing lessons.
- Lenny and Joe’s Fishtale still has the best fried shrimp!
- Twenty years is enough time to figure out who you are and what you want in life. Unfortunately there were some people at the reunion who hadn’t come to that realization yet.
- I miss the forests and the green and the beach. I didn’t even mind the humidity.
- My love affair with beach cottages is alive and well
- As an observer, clumsy drunkedness in a middle-age parent is not as palatable as it was back in high school.
- Just because you went to high school with someone does not mean that’s all you have to talk about with them. How refreshing.
- A country club tennis court full of old men dressed all in white is not as impressive as it once was.
It was full of little guys the day I took this.
- Madison is not where we’d choose to raise kids, but it may make a great summer family vacation.
- We are so happy to be where we are and to have what we have.
That first and last photo are just gorgeous. Have you ever tried doing a stretch canvas with any of your photos? We have in our bedroom a photo from Italy and France that my husband took. Winkflash does a really nice job.
Glad to hear that you had a nice trip. My 20 year is next year … yikes! I really hope that my braces are off because that will really make me feel like I am in HS again.
Great photos and nice story. Good luck.