More thoughts on reconnecting after 20 years

When a grad walks across the stage in cap and gown, the last thing on their mind is "which of my classmates will be dead 20 years from now?" At 18, you'd never look at your friends and realize it might be the last opportunity to say goodbye, and how much you appreciated them.

To date, many people from my high school graduating class have been incarcerated. But too many have died or been killed.

• One of them was killed in a motorcycle accident
• One was shot because the gangbangers on his block didn't like him.
• One of my old boyfriends, I learned today, drank himself to death
• Another died from complications of a condition he had

I know there are others that I will yet find out about. But for every story like the above, I am learning multiple stories of success and heroism.

Case in point. Last night I chatted with someone who I dated briefly my sophomore year, and had the biggest crush on. He is now a firefighter/paramedic and told me some stories about his job. You know, I keep thinking I've made strides professionally, but they pale in comparison to performing a tracheotomy on a blue child who has inhaled a marble. My success has nothing on his, and I am enormously proud of him. He is my hero.