Of These Mountains

By Kendall R. Rumsey

By the time you read this, there is a good chance that the 2022 – 2023 school year will be in full swing. Many of your kids and grandkids will be in the throes of a 12-year adventure that will shape who they are and be the cornerstone for memories that will last a lifetime.

Those school years aren’t always easy. Some kids find themselves on the outside, not quite fitting in with the crowd. Others will excel, become the stars of the campus, and idolized by many. Then there are the kids who just move through school as one of the crowd, it’s all part of the journey, one that is individual to each kid but commonplace in every class that graduates.

While each kid has a unique experience, there is one common denominator. The lifelong relationships, memories, newfound ways of excelling and the first steps of finding themselves will travel through their lives much longer than those 12 years of growth.

One of the amazing things about those school years is realizing many of those faces you entered first grade with will be the ones you eventually toss your cap with to signify an ending. But more than that, those same faces, while not with you each day, and sometimes missing for years, will be with you through all the stages of life.

This past summer, that realization hit me hard when my classmates and I celebrated our 40th Class Reunion, the Class of 1982 was all grown up. This wasn’t our first reunion, but it was mine. During all the other reunions I had lived away and not made the effort to attend. The older I got the more I realized that was a mistake.

When I heard about our 40th reunion, I marked my calendar immediately, I was not going to miss it. Anticipation grew over the months, and I got more and more excited, hearing the names of the people who would be attending. I couldn’t wait. Then the day of the event came, old childhood insecurities hit, and I was nervous. Those nerves melted quickly as I got out of my car and saw some friends walking in at the same time. Once in the room, I saw those childhood faces, gathered, talking, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company. Our faces were a bit more creased, hair thinner, and many of us wouldn’t fit into those jeans we wore in High School, but those faces, and personalities were still there. Our reunion was special, we had people travel from all parts of the country. We even had an exchange student travel from Germany.

Old cliques melted away. The football players and the nerds and the brainiacs and the band kids and each and every other group all sat together and laughed and remembered what united us all those years ago and still sat with us 40 years later.

It was a magical night, being with this group of people who helped shape my life, people I shared a common experience with and who still fill a huge place in my heart.

It’s funny how those people we shared 12 years with really do make a huge impact on our lives. I wish I would have realized that earlier. My hope is the kids going through the journey now will realize it and embrace that the gift of classmates will be with you always.

Kendall Rumsey is a resident of Clayton, Ga. He is owner of the lifestyle brand Of These Mountains. www. ofthesemountains.com