Ten Years Later...

THEN...











High school was a great time for me. I had an amazing group of friends and we made the most of the four years spent together, making memories that would last a lifetime. To say we were involved might very well be the understatement of the century. The six of us had a hand in virtually everything that went on in that school. If there was something to be president of, captain of, member of, or queen of, we were all over it. The Bomb Squad, our self-appointed moniker, was a force to be reckoned with. We made our way onto the Senior lists being voted Ms. LMHS, best athlete, best body, most original, most likely to be famous, and most resourceful. And while those inconsequential titles don’t mean much after graduation day, it’s funny to see just how closely most of us have maintained those same attributes that were evident back then.

But here is the great part. I am immensely proud of all the things the ladies I grew up with have accomplished and the beautiful women they have become, but it brings me greater joy to be able to have had the opportunity to experience it all first hand. I can go listen to my best friend speak to hundreds of captivated women, I can turn on the T.V. and see her singing and dancing her heart out, I can watch the Olympics and see her rule the world, I can see her grow a business through sheer will and determination...all of it is inspiring but it's tenfold because it is happening to my favorite people in the world. These ladies have become my family. And while it’s often true that the friendships you have in high school drift apart over the years as people change and grow in opposite directions, we have all become cornerstone’s in each other’s lives. We became best friends in high school and as we have matured as individuals, our friendship has grown as well.

Last week the five of us got together for lunch and marveled at where all the time has gone. This past weekend was our 10 year high school reunion and while we all have done many amazing things in this span of time since high school, it still blows my mind that it’s been ten years since prom, since cheering at football games, since dressing up for spirit days, since first loves and first heartbreaks, since the beginning of friendships that will most surely last a lifetime.

There are many times when I sit back in wonder at what we’ve all become and just how grown we really are. We don’t seem grown. At least not to me. Sure, among us there are a couple of husbands, a kid, prosperous businesses, gold medals, singing careers, passports with a million stamps on them, etc. But get us together in the same room and it feels like just us. The us from back in the day at La Mirada High School. The us from the hundreds of pictures I have overflowing out of my photo albums. This same group of girls who sat together in the quad and dreamed about their successful futures are the same women that I look at now living out their dreams. So while reunions are a nice way to see those who helped shape your high school years, I am lucky enough to have those who shaped mine the most in my life on a consistent basis to remind me of who I am and to help me to always strive to be better.


NOW...