This is Us

This past weekend a bunch of my high school classmates reunited at a friend's house in California.  I couldn't make it but vicariously reveled in the camaraderie before, during, and after.

I can't believe it's been 25+ years since we all graduated from Lynbrook High.  Despite it being over a quarter-century, our time together imprinted a great sense of school spirit and togetherness, which lives on to this day in our affection for one another (not to mention our delight in seeing/buying/wearing school merchandise).

This is not at all surprising to me, because the years have helped me to realize how special our school spirit was.  So many good people whose infectious enthusiasm and tireless devotion to the Red, White, and Blue.  So many class meetings, infused with the joy and seriousness of being part of something bigger than ourselves.  So many good memories from those four years. 

Even then, I knew we were something special, and the years have done nothing to dissuade me of this.  We are successful entrepreneurs, tech mavens, and health care professionals.  We are also deeply invested in our marriages, kids, communities, and charitable outlets.  I recall a classmate half-jokingly proclaiming to me, just a few years out of high school, that he would put our class up against any others and we'd be hard to beat; but his bravado is not too far from reality.

Speaking of which, one of my very favorite classmates, Kurt Kuenne, has made quite a name for himself.  In addition to being one of the nicest and wryest people I know, he has been incredibly productive in the creative space, having birthed the critically acclaimed documentary "Dear Zachary" and recently directing an episode of the hit show "The Blacklist."

Kurt spent our four years together piecing together, either through compilation or his own shooting, enough footage to create an incredible tribute video which he made available our senior year.  (Oh, and just as a by the way, he also composed and performed all of the music you hear on this video.  Again, ridiculously talented.)  On very short notice, he made sure the video was available for this weekend's gathering.  In the near future I hope to share it here so you can see how much talent he has and how much school spirit we had.  All of that continues into the present.  Lynbrook Vikings, Class of '91, hats off to thee!

PS Take note for once the video is publicly viewable that my favorite moment in the video is pretty early on, at around the 5-minute mark, when it was announced that we had won Class of the Year...as freshmen.  It was practically assumed every year that seniors would win, and it was unheard of to think that an incoming class could marshal enough organization, enthusiasm, and will to pull off the victory.  And yet we did it.  As I said, an incredible group of people.  We'll always have that moment together.

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