On reunions

My high school class has a Facebook group. And it has been interesting to see how people who had not seen each other for 30 years suddenly reunited online. For a few days, everyone exchanged memories of that teacher, or that student. It was a fun, touching experience. But suddenly everyone stopped writing.

And it has been the same with friends that one sees again after many years. One runs into them at the mall, one asks about a couple of common old friends and one says “Bueno verte.” With the promise, of course, of “meeting for lunch.” And one goes on with life.

It seems that both online and in real life, there is only so much one can talk with old friends and acquaintances. There are the old stories, the old memories, the common friends. But the truth is we have grown apart irremediably. We can talk for a few minutes. But that’s it. We have moved on and made a new life, new friends. The past is nice , but the idea of rekindling old friendships is unrealistic. Like Paul McCartney once said about the Beatles getting back together, “You can’t reheat a soufflé”. Well, actually, you can try, but one should always be ready for disappointment.