The Road Not Traveled in a World of What If

When you think about the friends that could have been made, the places that you could have seen, and the things that could have been done

With my sixty-second birthday just days away, I can’t help but reflect on my life and the choices that I have made. Like everyone, I have made mistakes. Some of them have been big whoppers, and others were minor blips in my destiny.

I can tell that I am not alone in my reflections because all over Facebook, there are the “You know you are from (fill in the blank) if….” Groups. The posts will be filled with enthusiastic comments regarding restaurants, teachers, stores, and events from the past. People connect on the sites.

“Yes, I remember you.”

“You worked with my mother.”

“My father owned that store.”

One of my biggest regrets is that I wasn’t more social in high school. There were over four hundred people in my class, and yet I had only a hand full of friends. I was the girl sitting in the back of the class reading a book. I got used to sitting in the back because I was tall. Now, I find myself instinctively heading for the back of the room no matter where I go.

As I reflect, I thought so many people were snobbish or mean. It’s true that some of them were, but maybe it would have been different if I had just smiled and said “hello.” I realize now that they might have thought the same about me.

Ironically now, I have several high school classmates who are the biggest champions of my writing. We were not friends back in the “the day,” but I look forward to communicating with them now. They encourage me, and I appreciate them now. I’m not sure if we could have been friends all of those years ago, but I’m glad that we are now.

College was another blip on my radar. I flunked out after my first quarter. I just couldn’t adjust. High School had been so easy for me, but college was a different ball game altogether. I was living away from home for the first time, and in my defense, a couple of my professors were the worst. One of them was forced to retire after my freshman year. He had dementia. I thought that my failure was the…

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