Reconnecting with Old Friends

Since taking early retirement in October, 2007, I've been making a conscious effort to reconnect with some social groups from my youth. Over the years, I've remained in contact with several rugby teammates primarily because we worked for the same company, attended the same college, or previously were neighbors. Just last fall, we had a small "old boys" reunion organized by one of the group.

Recently, I contacted the core people from our co-ed volleyball team, Friday night bar social group. For about five years, five of met up every Friday at a local bar and we were part of a co-ed volleyball league. Although four out of five still live in the area, we hadn't gotten together as a group for over a decade.

In our past life, we were single and in our twenties and thirties. Back then we're were spontaneous and carefree. Now we're married, with kids from pre-school to high school, with many more responsibilities, and it showed :-) It took a couple weeks to find a Friday, a month in advance, that worked for everyone. And we only stayed out until 8PM, mainly because one person had a soccer game for her daughter.

However, we still had a great time, reminiscing about the past and talking about different the world is for our kids. Although, each of us had been in contact with some of the others individually, it was a lot fun to get back together as a group. In fact, we had enough fun that we agreed to getting together another Friday night .

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

Photo Credit: morgueFile.com, kakisky

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