Old friends, old home and a graduation

So I heard from a couple of old friends last week.  High school pals.  Guys I played sports with.   I was a little surprised at how happy I was to hear from them.  Not that I wouldn't have wanted to hear from these guys in particular, but that I was actually happy to be reminded of my home town and my childhood.  I don't go back to the old home very often.  In fact it's been more than a year now and will be closer to two before I do get back at all.  I usually think of going back with a little dread.   I made a point of not being back for my ten year class reunion in 2000.  

So a note from these guys made me wonder why I treat the old hometown with so little regard.  I thought about the rather large number of very fine people I knew back then.  Sure there are a fair number that I am very happy to never see or hear from again, but there were also quite a few that I am sure I would still be fortunate and glad to call my friends.  I think the real problem is this:  I am one of the people I'd be happy not to hear from again.  I was a fairly gung-ho guy, and took myself far too seriously.  I think this was at least in part a reaction to the small-town mentality where people didn't always take themselves or their lives seriously enough.  Now that I work in academia where thou shalt take thyself and thy work quite seriously indeed, I have very little seriousness in me.     Anyway, I try to go easier on myself and the people around me these days and I am afraid I have been projecting my dislike for the kid I was two decades ago onto the people who were kind enough to put up with me back then.   I think I might even try to go back for the 2010 reunion, although a lot of the folks I would really like to see were a little older or a little younger than me.  And the guys that got in touch are definitely among those I'd really like to see.  

About a year ago I tried googling a few old friends mostly out of curiosity. Maybe I'll give that another try soon.  I'm sure a trip home next summer could put me in touch  with a lot of people just by walking up and knocking on some real-life, actual, solid, 3-D, not-an-avatar, undigitized doors.  

One of the very few things I am serious about is the mentoring of students.  I was most pleased and proud to attend graduation ceremonies for Andy Mitofsky this weekend.  Andy wrote a lovely PhD thesis under me and today is teaching at Trine University.  I'm very proud of Andy and I was really happy to see that she seems to be really happy.