The timing of my trip home was planned to coincide with my 20 year school reunion. I still see quite a few school friends but there are plenty I haven’t seen since 1988 so I was really looking forward to it. It was being organised by my good friend Jig in his capacity as President of the Old Abingdonian Club and he did an outstanding job. At the evening dinner the current headmaster (who was new to me) mentioned that the biggest turnout they had had for the Presidents dinner was 92 in the past. This year we had over 170!
The plan for the day was drinks at noon, a game of cricket on the school field then dinner in the evening. The cricket was a great game and came down to the final over but alas the class of 1989 came up victorious. The whole day was far less weird than I had thought it would be and it was great to catch up with so many people. It was funny seeing the folks with grey hair, or no hair (hello!) but still being able to see their 18 year old selves quite clearly within. I was left with two feelings: by and large people don’t change and that I was lucky enough to go to school with a great bunch of guys. I had always thought the latter but this weekend reminded me that that wasn’t just nostalgia.
