Reunions

How much time do we devote to the past?
I'm about to head out the door to attend a reunion with a couple old friends... a Crew Chief and Gunner from my unit in Viet Nam. It's almost forty years since we were together in Chu Lai, Viet Nam. Barely out of our teens, we were boys doing men's work.

We've tried to stay in touch over the years, via email and too infrequent meetings. Obviously, our lives have taken different directions and it's interesting to chat about how our experiences back then have impacted our lives since. And it's there that we have a bond...
For all of us, the Viet Nam experience was the foundation for much of what followed in our lives.

I avoided these reunions for years, worrying that to attend would be "living in the past", denying myself the therapy I'd receive by seeing those years through the eyes of others. Talking with these brothers-in-arms rekindles memories of those days, and hearing others sharing their experiences of tense moments helps illuminate the "whys" of those experiences. It's also good therapy hearing we all had similar experiences adjusting to normal life upon our return home.

Summer is reunion season, and many contemporaries will be meeting and sharing, doin' a little "living in the past".
Remember, it's therapy...
Good for the soul.