I had my 10 year high school reunion this past weekend. Overall, it was a pretty memorable experience, but it was really kind of strange.

Reunions for a guy like me are pretty strange happenings. I don't want to make it sound like I didn't have any friends in high school, but a) I didn't have many friends in high school, and b) most of my friends were in a different class than me. So I barely knew most of the people in my class while I was still in high school; when you add 10 years to that equation, my reunion was a lot of, "Oh it's so great to see you," followed by a brief catching up, followed by us both awkwardly going our separate ways.

What really struck me was how little most everyone had changed. Jocks are still jocks. Cheerleaders are still cheerleaders. The nice people in high school are still nice. The a-holes are still a-holes.

And not only have people not changed personality wise, many of them had barely changed addresses since they graduated. I was really surprised by how many people said things like, "Oh, I just live right up the street," or "I married so-and-so from our high school class, and we live out in Spring, Texas."

I am not passing judgment here, but once I heard my former classmates, many of whom I used to look up to and wish to be like, I knew that all of the choices I've made in the past 10 years, whether they be good, bad, or in between, have taken me on this really awesome, almost mythological trip.

I'm not putting myself on par with Achilles or Luke Skywalker, but damn if I didn't learn some very important lifelong lessons from the stories I've read and the movies I've seen. I really don't think there is a more appropriate metaphor for lifechoice than the scene in the original "Star Wars" when Luke was looking at those twin suns, setting in the distance. One sun was one choice, in this case, to stay home, while the other sun represented the choice to leave and live an adventurous life.

Again, let me stress this, I do not look down on any of my former classmate's choices. I'm sure that if Luke Skywalker had chosen to stay at home, he would have had a great life. Maybe he would have enjoyed the rest of his life on that farm. Yet here's the thing, in some ways, there was no possible way he could have stayed.

Like the mythological character Luke, I felt the need to go out and do extraordinary things, sometimes even going against my instincts and better judgment. Like Luke, I had it; I had not the *want*, but the *need* to just go and live an extraordinary life, and to do so on my terms. Sure, I could have stayed home, gone to the University of Houston, and lived out my days in the comforts of Houston, the only home I had ever known, yet I just felt compelled to leave. I may not have known this in these specific terms, but I needed to take my own hero's quest. And this weekend reminded me that I voluntarily joined the Marines. This weekend reminded me that I volunteered to go to Okinawa. I volunteered to stay in Okinawa for a second year, once my first tour had ended. I volunteered to become an activist. I volunteered to leave my family and friends in Dallas and Denton to move to a place that I've longed to live in for many many years.

It's my hero's quest. And on this hero's quest, I made those friends that I so longed for in high school. Again, I go to "Star Wars." In SW lore, Luke had some really great friends on Tatooine. But I bet if you asked him after his quest was finished, which friends meant the absolute most to him in his life, they were the friends he made along his journey. So this portion is for all of my friends, whether they be Marine or Activist, Jarhead or Peacenik, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you all and am glad that you all helped me become the person that I am today.

So yeah, it was great catching up with my classmates, but I now know that this past weekend was more a celebration of a decade well lived, than a celebration of the past and all that was familiar.

p.s. I had a great time catching up with Luke. I swear, our philosophy talks should be recorded for posterity. ;-)

peace and love