"Hot" after all these years

August 3, 2009

It is the morning after the weekend of my 30th class reunion. Wow! If I ever had a self esteem problem, which I don’t think I have, it certainly would have been rectified over the weekend. Graduating from a small school in Northwestern Minnesota, I knew everyone in my class and was one of those that floated from group to group and was friends with most. Those friends from my childhood have rooted me, believed in me and so many times been my source of inspiration for writing and speaking. It is no surprise that they have kept me grounded and true to myself.

The endearing phrase of the weekend was “have I told you in the last hour how HOT you are?” Men and women approaching middle age were telling one another how hot one another were. It wasn’t meant as a sexual innuendo, but a term of endearment. I have never been told so many times by so many people how loved I was. It is the kind of love that says, I know all of you; your hopes, dreams, fears and I share in your joy, laughter and triumphs. There was no need for pretending that life was something greater or less than what it is because these friends have traveled my journey and they really know me. In 30 years, I can honestly say, I have never felt so complete and safe in my own skin. It was surreal as if the weekend had been pulled right off a movie screen. It was a “Big Chill” type of weekend.

I have a lighter step this morning and a perpetual smile on my face as I picture us all dancing to “Grease Lightning" and laughing out loud when we would throw someone in the middle and dance around them. My knees are not reflecting the smile on my face, but it really is a small price to pay for so much fun and nostalgia. Pulling the vacuum in tow and dusting this morning, I have no one running up to me and hugging me tightly, but in my heart, I know I’m still HOT!