Reflection

As many of you know, we lost another classmate this past weekend. It has caused me to reflect on the importance of friendships and of the many fond memories that I have from our days together at NHS. Social media has provided a way for us to all stay in contact and I am grateful for it. Although, my job has encouraged me to stay off of Facebook, its times like this that I feel the pull to be on there and check up on my friends. My wife and I were talking the other night about Brigham and she said to me "you know, your class was so close and connected, no wonder you loved high school." We were close, we were connected, we looked out for one another and we succeeded together. Its amazing that we graduated 15 years ago because there are times it feels like yesterday, it is also amazing to see where we all ended up, the careers we chose, the families we have and to see us come together again when we have lost someone. I know the past years have been difficult for some people, some have lost parents, brothers, sisters and even children. My heart has broken along with them and I am humbled to see how our fellow classmates have rallied around them and supported them. For Christmas, my wife had all my old HS videos converted to digital copies. I spent the majority of Christmas, reliving the "glory days" and watching my kids laugh at the assemblies, especially the Cardi-Males dancing or cheering me on as I wrestled or played football. I am forever grateful that I had the opportunity to know these individuals even though their absence is heartbreaking. My wish for my kids is that as they grow older and are in school, they experience the same things I did. That their school days, especially that of their high school days, will be some of the best times of their life. That they will have friends that even when years pass and life moves forward, they will always stay close. Much love, Charlie