July 27, 2018: 25th High School Class Reunion

Today was my 25th high school class reunion.  There have been so many changes in our lives in 25 years.   There were about 50 classmates out of close to 300 who came to the reunion.  In the afternoon, Molly Piersema and I went to Crystal McWilliams Hall’s house for a small gathering.   Sarah Meisch, Missy Hawrysz, Crystal, Molly, and I came to the party.   I found out that Sarah Meisch was diagnosed with terminal cancer in April and given 6 months to live.   It’s very sad to hear about f someone so young suffering no from cancer.   She was a great writer and lived in Philadelphia for a short time before coming back to Muskegon.    
Then, we picked up Sue Arnouts and went to the reunion which was on the World War II ship LST in downtown Muskegon.   
Joe Kinnucan provided the music and Jason Mumford provided some of the food.   The people who came were:  Crystal McWilliams, Lezleigh Berkel, Stasia Kurtz, Molly Piersema, Sue Arnouts, Mark Douglas, Charles Bengston, Seth Vanhoeven, Andy Bitzer, Dan Burlingame, Jon Huizenga, Mandy Roczyki, Lisa Wolters, Jens Carlson, Brent Hylland, Adam Sobczok, Julie Courim, Jill Koniarski, Dana Jenson, Jason Thielbar, Anne Whittington, Matt Kuzyck, Aaron Tracy, Ivan Ivanov, and me.   I’m sure I forgot a few people who I don’t remember.  
Had an interesting conversation with Andy Bitzer whom I have never talked to before.   He’s a loner and was like that in high school.   He’s unemployed and lives in Roosevelt Park.   He said he doesn’t really like to be around lots of people and prefers to be home.  He asked if I remembered him flicking off in the last reunion photo.   It was quite a funny conversation.
During the reunion, I heard a big crash.  Matt Kuzyck fell back head first onto the hard ground on the boat.  He fell pretty hard and lost his pulse.  Luckily, Joe Kinnucan, who is a firefighter, resuscitated him.   Adam called 911 and the fire truck and ambulance came within minutes.  It was quite a scare to see.  I found out later that he was diagnosed some time ago with Parkinson’s.    
At night, we let off some Chinese lanterns in memory of the students who have passed away which were Joe Wadsworth, Renee Wilbur, and Troy Vanderstelt.  They had a hard time getting the lanterns to fly.  I thought we would catch the boat on fire and have to call emergency again.   
It was nice to see everyone but sad to see Matt collapse and hear about Sarah.  It made me realize just how short life can be and to make sure to do the things you want now and not wait until retirement.