Life happened

Hey folks! Here's to hoping your week went well and that you'll have a great Labor Day weekend! Today's kind of a big deal here in my hometown, so I kind of hit on that in this week's column. Take a look and share it if you like it or want others to check it out!

Original publication date: Friday, September 4, 2015 
Random Writer 
Life happened 

This weekend of Homecoming marks my tenth year from graduating high school. Will I take part in any of the festivities? No. In all honesty, I’m holding out for a reunion of sorts with the folks from Bible college that provided me with some of the best memories of life, and that hasn’t happened yet, so...

Anyway, I would be remiss if I didn’t just look back to see what happened between walking down those steps in the Mustang Bowl through today. A lot of it just boggles my mind, honestly.

I love that the breakout person from The Class of 2005 ended up being Edward Villanueva, who most people know as the drummer in the Josh Abbott Band. I had the opportunity this past year to conduct a phone interview with him regarding the band’s new album, and I always enjoy it when people end up recognizing me from way back when, as he did in an email I sent him for the story.

But the Class of ‘05 also ended up with business owners, coaches, and doctors. Some people stayed single and some got married, which led to some becoming parents and step-parents.

Some people ended up in other states or even other countries, to where the only time we’ll ever see each other--which for me, is most of the class--will be on Facebook or some other social media site.

Some people never left Sweetwater. But for some of us, we ended up coming back to the place we tried to leave all these years.

Still, an event like Homecoming reminds me of a song I heard so many years ago and after all this time, the lyrics relate to my life. Tammy Cochran’s song “Life Happened” seems to ring true:

“It seemed like it was only yesterday--

standing in the gym in our cap and gown,

full of wanderlust and glory bound.

We set out to chase our dreams on wings of passion,

but somewhere along the way we got distracted.

Life happened--

our clothes went out of fashion with our songs.

We started families and bought SUV’s, 

became step-dads and soccer-moms...

Life happened.” 

For all the dreams we had, some of them were attained while others weren’t. But for those of us whose dreams never came to light, it doesn’t mean that we fell short--it means that God had another route for our lives to take. It allows for events like Homecoming to give people a chance to catch up on the past, even if all the Facebook and Instagram posts take care of the big events.

All the details on how each life transformed from then until now can’t be completely seen on social media. It can’t be captured in a post, photo or hashtag. Sometimes, only human, face-to-face interaction can recap how life--in all its grand moments and its ordinary details--actually happened.