Reunions = high school + time

Over the weekend, Magda got the biggest glimpse of her new husband’s life before they knew each other when they attended his high school reunion. They didn’t know which classmates would be there, so there was no chance to prepare for whom to embrace (or avoid). So everyone was essentially a blank slate. As it should be. You never know how a night surrounded by people you haven’t seen in 35 years is going to turn out. But you can’t deny that meeting them at that formative time forms a unique life bond. And those same people become so much more interesting after decades of life experience have their way with our fully formed prefrontal cortexes. After you hit 50, reunions are also great for discussions about the topics we talk through on this podcast: launching our kids, caring for parents, making the life decisions that we think will optimize the time we have life, etc. They can be great reminders that although Time is undefeated, we have each other to help us prolong the battle. Thanks for listening to When the Flames Go Up! We’re a listener-supported enterprise, so please consider a paid subscription to support our writing and podcasting. We had plans to talk about reunions the whole time, but of course we couldn’t help but digress into heirloom apples, a touching update about Marty and Dennis, and what if Silence of the Lambs and The Rocky Horror Picture Show had a mashup? Other links: * A hug from Big Gretch is great for what ails you. * Try some sheep’s nose and reine des reinettes apples. * The My Tiny Bottles podcast. * The Head of the Charles regatta. * A post about Jim Gillespie, Doug’s HS classmate who died in 2019. * Elevator Repair Service’s production of Ulysses This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whentheflamesgoup.substack.com