It all started with cocktails. Of course it did. Cocktails with a friend I had known in fourth grade (who grew up next door to my college roommate), a high school friend, and a friend I met in college through my best friend in elementary school.  The high school friend had also gone to elementary school with me, but I didn’t know him then. The high school friend and the one I met in college had gone to middle school together, and the elementary school friend had gone to high school with the friend I met in college. Confused yet? Don’t be. It’s not really important, except that it made me want to know more about people from my past that I have connected with through Facebook, but hadn’t seen in years.

This summer, I was able to reconnect in person with women I went to junior high with, and  some friends from high school. In the case of the junior high ladies, I’d not seen them since I was fourteen- more years ago than I care to admit.  A couple of people from high school, not since the last parties before we all went off to college.

As I mentioned, Facebook has been a boon in aiding these reconnections.  I have glimpses into these people’s current lives. But it was still daunting to book a plane ticket to Maryland for the beach weekend with the girls. I mean, it’s been A LOT of years since I saw these women.  Although they had booked a couple of hotel rooms, I booked my own.  I figured this weekend would either be epic, or quickly turn into the Real Housewives of Crazytown.  Thankfully, it was EPIC. We had such a good time.  In many ways, it was like no time at all had passed.

We moved early in my freshman year of high school. I always felt the time with these junior high friends was unfinished.   We were so young and so concerned with our immediate lives, it’s no wonder we didn’t make a strong effort to stay in touch.  I often wondered what had happened to everyone.

After high school, my parents moved again, my senior year of college. Before that, my summers were spent hanging out with college friends who lived in the same city.  I didn’t really see most of the people I’d gone to high school with, except my best friend.  One thing I had noticed through Facebook was that the cliques that had been a part of high school had, thankfully, dissolved as we got older.  It appeared to me that people genuinely wanted to know what was going on with our classmates.

These two summertime visits have made me wonder about this desire to reconnect.   I have a wealth of friends in my life now, friends from Atlanta I’ve now known for years and see far more frequently than any of these old friends.  Is it that, because of so many moves, I don’t really feel that I have roots anywhere before I was an adult, no “hometown” to return to?  Is it a bit of “What if?”wondering about what might have happened had we all stayed friends and connected through all these years?  Is it just wanting to be able to share old and new memories with people?  Is it nostalgia for the past?

I’m honestly not sure why these connections matter so much to me. I’m not sure that it’s really important for me to know why it matters.  Because it’s made me happy to reconnect with these people.  We’re talking about making the girls trip an annual thing- and I really hope we do.  And I love that it should be easier to see these high school friends more often. I believe in celebrating friendship, and it’s been fun reconnecting with so many people lately and expanding my circle of friends.