Taking stock

Not too much going on lately in the Delaney household. The past few weekends have been quiet, which is unusual for us. This past weekend we relaxed most of the time and then on Sunday we went to an old friend from high school’s wedding. We all said how it felt like a little warm up for our ten-year reunion, which is next weekend. The wedding was very nice, it was held at the Arboretum in Lombard, which is a beautiful place for a wedding. It was great to see Tim again and to meet his new wife Karin. They sound like they really have a great relationship, and both John and I are happy for them. At the wedding there were a few classmates and it was fun to catch up and talk about the upcoming reunion.

Reunions are funny things because they bring up such a mixture of emotions. When I first heard about the reunion I was very excited to see friends and find out what everyone had been up to. Just to say hi, and maybe get in touch with some people that I had lost contact with. I had always thought that most people had matured since high school and so there would be no cliques and no cattiness, just everyone being friendly. I was excited and I really couldn’t understand why anyone else wouldn’t be. Some of my friends had expressed other emotions about going to the reunion, and I am now just beginning to understand that.

It was about 3 weeks ago that it finally hit me, just a general feeling of nervousness. I was worried about every detail of the reunion; from what to wear, to what if someone was mean to me, to what if I have nothing to talk about with someone??? My always active imagination went into overdrive and I became a little crazy. I started to take stock of my life, and wonder how would I answer the tough questions like, “what have you been up to????” It sounds ridiculous I know, but you start to doubt how wonderful your life is.

So I continued on with my nervous thoughts until yesterday when we went to Tim and Karin’s wedding, which was like the pre-game to the big game. Walking in I felt anxious, and decided a glass of wine might be a good idea. I really had nothing to worry about. Overall, the night was great, everyone talked and laughed and it went just fine. It was nice to see that other people didn’t seem as perfect as I built them up to be, they seemed normal just like me.

At home later that night I was getting ready for bed thinking about the day and I looked over at my wonderful husband watching the Bears game, and my kitties chasing each other around in the one bedroom apartment that we all squeeze into, and I realized how completely insane I had gone. My life is fabulous, I have everything I ever wished for and more. And obviously there’s room for improvement, how sad if there weren’t? Life is a work in progress. If someone asks me what have I been up to, I will have a lot to tell them.

I am really thankful that I had this eye opening experience a week before the reunion because I would hate to have wasted my time at the reunion being nervous instead of getting to know some old friends better.