Class Reunion: Why Do We Only Do This Every Five Years? [OPINION]

Last weekend was a great one. It wasn't just the first time I really got out socially since the start of the pandemic, but it was with a group of friends from high school for a 25-year class reunion. Shout-out to the Kennedy Class of 1996!

Not a lot of photos were taken but a lot of memories were definitely made. Eating, drinking, singing and dancing, and oh yeah, a little chatting and catching up, too. Attendance was small, as with each reunion it gets smaller, but the organizing classmates and the folks at the Eagles Club took great care of us and put together an amazing night.

Everyone had a great time, and everyone is as awesome as I remember (some more!) So, that being said and as most of us there still live in or near the Cedar Rapids area, it begged the question, at least in my mind: why only every 5 years? Busy lives, jobs, kids, and more keep the social activity to a minimum as we get older, but it really shouldn't take a special occasion like this and only every few years to get together. Certainly, it was a huge endeavor to organize, and a few of us have vowed to try to get together much sooner but you can bet, the next time it happens, I'll be there.

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There is another reason it's important to go. We've also lost a handful of classmates over the years, including one just last week. It was a chance to celebrate life but also pay respects to our friend Jason O'Connor, condolences to his family and may he rest in peace.

I know some people hated their high school years and never want to relive them by attending a class reunion. I like to say I wasn't really in any of the "cliques" but I was in all of them, with friends (or at least a friendly acquaintance or two) across the board. But people grow out of the petty drama and when you get the chance, it's so worth it to spend time with people who were part of such a formative time in your life. Life is too short not to.