Hence, high school reunions are happening in the comfort of my own home practically every day. Most recently, Joe, a kid I helped tutor in French class, sent me an email (or maybe I sent him one first). In high school. Joe was this scrappy, mischievous, popular boy who looked a lot like a young Leonardo DiCaprio when he had that guest stint on Growing Pains.
The last time I saw Joe was at our 5-year reunion when I marched over to him and said, "I'm surprised you're not in prison," since I had always considered him a bit of a trouble maker in class (to a goody two-shoes like me, anyone who didn't have a 4.0 grade point average was trouble). He laughed and told me he was modeling for Levi's and was currently appearing on a billboard in LA. I think I spoke to him more in those few minutes than I ever had in 4 years of high school.
Fast forward to last Friday, when Joe came to town for a business meeting. He now owns his own marine taxidermy company in Florida, is married and the father of a beautiful little boy. And probably one of the nicest, warmest, most upbeat guys on the planet.
We spent most of the afternoon catching up and, also, (stay tuned!) talking about a story I'll be writing about him and his company. The visit, for me, was almost a do-over of all those painful and awkward moments from high school. Moments when you wish you had just been cooler. Moments when you weren't so afraid of not fitting in. Moments when you longed to break out of your safe but sometimes cruel clique and screwed up your courage to say hello to a boy who was stratospherically more popular and outgoing and happy.
And I think that's the real value of Facebook. For me, at least.
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