Honestly I barely remember what it was like to be 18. Heck I have a hard time remembering what life was like before Rob and Addison. So remembering high school seems like a dream I only remember snapshots of.
My biggest memories from high school are about as random as they come. Marching band is
definitely at the top of the list. For four years of high school (and a year before that) I played the tuba and carried a sousaphone. I remember every first day of band camp wondering how I was going to carry it all season long. I remember worrying about falling over. I remember my shoulder hurting for four years of life constantly. I remember hating hating hating band camp. But I remember loving every second of band. I remember laughing a lot, sweating a lot, the adrenaline rush of stepping on the field to being the show. I loved it. (Who remembers: T-T-T-R-U-M-M-M-A-N T-R-U-M-A-N Truman High Band!)
Other than band, high school is definitely a little spotty in my memory. I remember sitting by a group of four guys in College Prep English my senior year and having a great time. I remember doing homework waiting to play my tennis match my sophomore and junior year. I remember dancing in a classroom when it rained during tennis practice because it was a good (and fun) form for exercise.
I remember going to pep rallies during the day (a nice treat to get out of classes) and chanting: T-R-U-M-A-N over and over again. I remember the activities director yelling into the microphone and wondering if he knew his voice was already being amplified. I remember hanging out in the band room after school waiting for the parking lot to clear a little before heading on my way home.
Sure of course I went to class but those memories are even fuzzier. I only remember a few classes clearly, and usually that's because of a memory that is associated with it unrelated to classwork. I did well in school. I even liked school. I like the structure of school and feeling productive. I was a good student. A quiet student but a good one all the same.
My life definitely didn't go in the direction that I thought it would when I walked across that stage. Although I wasn't sure what I wanted to major in, I knew where I was going and I was sure of the people in my life. Of course I ended up going to three schools in four years before finally graduating from Northwest Missouri State University with a degree in history and no clue of what to do with it, and those same people no longer in my life. I wandered around pointlessly for awhile before I finally met the hubs, got married, bought a house, had a kid, and became a stay-at-home mom.
My life may not have gone the direction I thought it would when I was 18 but that's probably for the best because I sit there watching my husband and my kid play in the backyard I know that I ended up exactly where I was supposed to at 28. It hasn't been easy but every moment in high school and all those after have made me into who I am.
And I look back on Truman High School with some mixed feelings, but I know that I have some things that I will remember well for the rest of my life. I just can't believe it's been ten years since I left those blue and red halls.
xo, B
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