Perspective

This weekend, Katie and I are heading back home to help celebrate my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. Nothing big, nothin' much -- just family and a big ol' dinner.

This has been on my mind for the past couple of weeks -- but it just seemed like yesterday that we were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. Then, I was a senior in the fall of '95, had a girlfriend, and other priorities were set far ahead of the wedding anniversary party at hand. Rather than watching my grandparents and my parents and many other family friends get drunk and dance the night away, I was at some gravel pit making out with my then-girlfriend in the backseat of my car.

But it's all not about that, you see. It's the fact that TEN YEARS have passed, my God. It just seems like yesterday ... it's almost WRONG that I still remember my senior year of high school so well. Maybe it's because I got a lot of it on videotape -- who knows.

I always seem to harp about the past, for some odd reason. It was the experiences, the situations, the carpe diem moments, that really made that senior year work. It was life as we knew it with The Boys: playing b-ball at The Owl Garden, doin' some audio dubbage, being creative in our writing skills, whatever.

I just cannot let it go. At the same time, it scares me that it's been already TEN YEARS. Robb's got a son, Sean's got a new baby girl, Mike just got married (as did myself) ... good grief. Those were friendships made and forged in high school and God Damn It, we're still the best of friends after all of these years.

There's another situation: when my dad got married back in 1977, his best man and himself were best of friends. Now, they rarely speak to each other -- probably due to busy schedules. It's kind of sad, seeing friends part ways because of their professions. I'm pretty determined not to let that happen in my own life, but as it's going now, we've all got a pretty solid foundation and there isn't a thing in the world that would ruin our friendships amongst each other.

Maybe that is why I got into the teaching profession. TEN YEARS after I left high school all together, I'm back as the common enemy to the students. I'm there almost like a parental figure, telling students what to do. But I'm not like that. I'm there as a guide, not really "holding anyone's hand" in their academics, preparing the upper-classpersons to be independent.

Do students today have it a lot easier than we did ten years ago? I don't know the debate on that -- but things are more accessible to students, thanks to the Internet. I remember the Internet when I was a senior -- all dial-up and most of it was text-based. If there happened to be a graphic, it took 5 minutes to load. Unbelievable.

I've told the seniors: "It's a rude awakening out there, if you go to college", because it's a total wake-up call. "Don't take after me", I say ... my South Dakotan friends could vouch for that.

There's not much difference between seniors today than seniors ten years ago. The young want to be old and the old want to be young. Simple as that. They're eager to drink, smoke, do other questionable things -- but the buzz sure wears off when you're 21 1/2 years old. Then you think back -- "what in the hell was I thinking?"

As a teacher, I hear the stories and I'm not going to stop them in their quest for independence. All I can do is give them advice and lists the risks. I guess I'm "passing along the torch" to a new generation -- a little sentimental, perhaps -- but my day is done, the sun has set.

My priorities have shifted to family, friends (still), and my career -- and that's why this upcoming weekend is going to be pretty cool. Last year I thought we were going to lose my grandmother due to an aneurysm in her brain, but with successful surgery, she's doing well.

This time, I'll be there.