The Reunion

Fall 1994.  That means something special to 178 people.  I don't have to think about where I was or how old I was that year.  It comes automatically.  The mention of Jerusalem still makes my heart beat a little faster and brings a flood of memories; some funny, some interesting, some spiritual, it brings faces and places to mind.  If I could go back and relive any time of my life that would be it, hands down.

I spent four months there with the BYU Study Abroad program.  One of the best decisions of my life. 
Jerusalem was one of the most life changing, no it wasn't life changing, I think I would still be where I am today. It was more remarkable, wonderful, amazing, and marvelous.  I don't think I can put into words the semester.  The smells, sights, feelings... the feel.  They are all so remarkable.  Thinking about it brings a flood of memories which I wish I could recreate.  It was uniquely special and because of that the friendships formed there were also uniquely special. 

I wish the computer and technology would have been more advanced then.  I wrote in my journal, but not nearly enough.  I took pictures, but again not enough.  We didn't know what email was and everyone lined up their film cameras to capture a moment.  No 'I'll email you a copy'.  And no blogs.  Man it would have been great if I could have recorded my experiences on the computer like that to share with everyone.

So two weeks ago I hosted our 16 year reunion.  Kind of a odd  year to host a reunion, but it had to happen then since Jelmer, one of the participants was visiting the States from Europe.

It all started almost three years ago.  I was visiting my sister in Washington D.C. and one of my friends from Jerusalem came over to her house.  She was telling us all about Facebook.  She showed me how someone how started a BYU Jerusalem page for our group.  There were only about 3 or 4 members.  I listened but wasn't really interested in Facebook.  Fast forward a few months and I was invited to someone's Facebook page.  You all know how it goes.  You click on it and before you know  you are signed up and then they start sending you names of all these people you may know.  And you are like what in the heck, how did they  know I knew them, and it is so exciting because you see people you really like, but lost contact with.  So it sucked me in.  From the BYU Jerusalem page I decided it was time to reconnect and have reunion.  So I started tracking people down.  I did most of my finding through each other, some through BYU alumni, and some through Facebook.  It was so much fun to find everyone and reconnect, but then I moved, and lost interest in Facebook, and well it was always in the back of my mind that Jelmer was coming July of 2010, but I didn't do anything about it.  Then one day Jelmer called me from Europe to tell me when he was going to be here and I knew I needed to pull it off.

So after two years of finding I needed to start planning.  I went with simple and economical so that everyone felt like the could attend.  Thank heavens for churches, where else could you use a large open space, with all the tables and chairs you need as well as a fully stocked kitchen for free.   

We really had a remarkable turnout.  Almost 70 participants came along with a few spouses.  We started at noon and the last group didn't leave until almost 5:00.  Although I would have loved to have more people come, I didn't even feel like I had enough time with the ones who came. 

It was such a great afternoon.  People traveled from long distances, just for the reunion.  Some flying in just for the day.  It really speaks for our experience together and the friendships that were forged. When you share something special it makes the frienship take on something special, because they shared a time of your life that no one else did.  They know about gigs, Upper Auditorium Concerts, Old City, the Wadi Kelt and numerous other things.....  It has made me nostogic and reflective  It has made me happy and excited to reconnect.  Man I love these guys.