We broke through the clouds and I found us suddenly in another land; clouds carpeted the floor and the light on the end of our wing became our own little moon, lighting our path. All of New York City below us had disappeared and there was nothing but endless carpeting as far as I could see. It was very serene…
Part I
I’m staring at my laptop wondering where to begin. Really I’d just like a couple Tylenol and some water, followed by closing my eyes and sleeping the rest of the flight. This has been an incredible trip. Most trips have some hiccup along the way, but this one maintained its level of excellence from start (getting picked up at the airport by my friend instead of working my way into the city on the train) to finish (last minute shopping successful enough that I had to unzip the reserve space on my carry-on and check it. So worth it). I’m on the plane flying back to Los Angeles after spending one long weekend flying back in time to the year 1991. I had my 20th high school reunion on Saturday night in my old hometown. I can’t remember the last time I was there. My parents moved some time around 1998 and I don’t think I’d been there since. Some people never left – either they still live there, live there again, or their parents live there so they never really went away. Me though, I left. 3000-plus miles away in sunny California is pretty darn far, space and time-wise.
Jolie picked me up at the airport and we headed into Manhattan excitedly chatting about who we thought would be at the reunion. We dropped my bags at her apartment and headed out for dinner around 11 pm. How continental, I thought. The parade of young and fashionables was incredible! Honestly, I’d forgotten how stylish New York is! I instantly felt old and dumpy and I didn’t care. Another thing about New York: there will always be someone looking better than you and you will always look better than someone else. Jolie and I watched the mini-dresses walk by guessing whose was really just a shirt. If these were trannies we’d have known the Gentiles from the Jews. As it was I felt my eyes burning. If I’d wanted to see that much female cheek I’d get a job as the Loehmann’s dressing room attendant.
Why don’t they have mini-kilts? I could handle a Scottish cheek or two…
Saturday afternoon we headed out to my hometown, crawling our way through traffic on the LIE. We rolled into town in good time to shower at Jolie’s sister’s and head to the reunion. Spontaneously I asked her to turn up my old road. We wound up the street, remarking how much nicer it looked than when we lived there. Much of my town is that way. There are a lot more Mercedes driving around now than when I was a kid. As we rounded the bed, I saw her, my old house. She looked pretty good (except for those God-awful shutters – really people? Round?). She looked small though. Jolie slowed the car for me to get a good look… and then I saw them. There were people in my backyard, grilling. And there was a pool where my mother’s garden used to be. What the hell? Where was my dad’s handmade screened-in porch? Jolie offered to stop and turned to look at me for my response, but what she got instead was a big sob and tears. I started really crying. My face heated up and I couldn’t catch the tears fast enough. How the hell was I going to go back to my childhood and live my life over without mistakes when there were people camped out in my house? (And don’t they know that yard is too small for a pool?!) Oh, Oh I was not prepared for this. Jolie continued driving and I looked at my old neighbor’s houses for some sign, any sign that it wasn’t too late. But there were no signs. My neighbors don’t even live there any more. It is gone for good.
At that point in time I started getting nervous about the reunion. My sure footing seemed gone and I was at a loss how to stand strong in myself. Jolie was now comforting me, our roles completely reversed. I was not prepared for the nerves that sprung up. I think it was too much, the anticipation of presenting my current self and the presentation at that moment of my tender former self. It overwhelmed me.
We got to her sister’s, showered and got ready. We drove to the reunion and I breathed through the nerves. We were some of the first to arrive. I headed for the bar, got a glass of wine and remarked on who was there. Some of the old guys I spent a lot of time with before heading to college were in a circle talking. I made my way over and began to reconnect…
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