I just returned from a "mini" college reunion with 3 of my buddies where we reconnected, reminisced and relaxed on the shores of beautiful Briggs Lake in Michigan. The conversation never stopped flowing as we picked up with each other's lives as if 2 years had never passed. We looked over the Alma College Face Finder or "Pig Book" as it was affectionately referred to and marveled at how young we looked and cringed at the late 70's hair styles. We wondered what became of others who never made it and dropped out, imagining their fate's. We were able to find some on Face Book to help fill in the blanks over the past 30 plus years. We talked about what attracted us to the small liberal arts school of 1200 students in the middle of nowhere, far from cool Ann Arbor or Central Michigan. For two of us it was our parent's college where we had grown up hearing their stories about Alma College. My father and his frat buddies were the original "Animal House" where he found out many years later at one of his class of 1953 reunions, were considered legendary by the younger generation of Delta Gamm Tau, known as the "Delts".
We have all fared quite well with our prospective careers and also in the marriage department with all four of us married over 20 years and 2 marriages close to the 30 year mark. We represent a cross section of our generation with 2 of the group choosing to remain childless, in a world that is different from our mother's with more options for women. One out of the four battled and overcame cancer, bearing out the statistics.
 Despite the years and struggles along the way we are still those same girls that found each other at such a pivotal point in our lives.  It was in college that we all had our first taste of freedom living on our own for the first time away from parent's in a stimulating, yet secure environment. It was an exciting time to seek out new experiences, explore ideas and discover who you were. A carefree time in life where we only had to worry about papers, grades and who was throwing the next party.
We are entering a point in our lives now where we have the time and desire to reconnect. Retirement is in the picture and our children are grown and out of the nest. Our attention is shifting away from careers and looking after others to rediscovering what we want out of life, a stage very similar in some ways to our youthful days of college. Fostering friendships both old and new is important for your health and emotional well being. I know I felt re-energized for many days after I returned from our reunion. Next year I am looking forward to "hosting" the next get together in the Finger Lakes wine country where we will sample some Rieslings along the Finger Lakes Wine Trails, and go down memory lane again, fondly remembering our Alma College days.