Before I went to reunion, I had a couple of moments of angst. I went to my hair cutter and said, "Make me look twenty years younger!" (David V.S. said he did the same thing.) And I rehearsed how I was going to say "home with the kids" as in what are you up to these days? Home with the kids.

Do I say it defiantly? matter of factly? apologetically? This was all coupled with my googling someone from my hall first year and discovering he was a professional violinist and a MD/Ph.D. (As it turns out, I had a blast with him. He was totally goofy and unpretentious.)

I went with matter of fact, which was, in fact, how I ended up feeling about it. I did not feel defensive. It was just an interesting part of my story to share. I still want to publish a book of poetry and make my mark in other ways, but I did not have to prove anything to these people.