Reunion reflections

My uncle sent me a note about his 50th class reunion. In it, he spoke of being envious of other kid's families. It reminded me about a reunion I had.


I remember going to a wedding with Kim in Olympia. Kim and her girlfriends were bonding so I contacted my best friend from college. We had been roommates and experienced much life together. I admired his family. I wished it was my own. Over drinks, I confessed to Dave for the first time how much I envied his family. How one time in particular, Dave and I were out fishing in Puget Sound. I was silently watching him skillfully prepares his tackle. I clumsily tied a square knot on my line and tossed it in the water.

That night I told Dave about that moment -- how I ached that I didn't have the type of father-son relationship he had where the manly arts of fishing were handed down.
Dave laughed a sincere laugh.
Dave said, "my dad didn't teach me any of that. I had to read a book." Dave went on, "the family man thing was all fake. We pretended because dad was a minister. But even now -- he never comes to visit our kids -- his grandkids."
It was an odd moment.
I realized I carried a lifelong envy of something that only appeared to exist.