All Reunions are Good Reunions!

I just hosted a softball reunion!

Back in the 80’s when the kids were toddlers, my husband and I sponsored the Strata Marketing Brokers baseball team.  Don’t judge, it’s at least as good of a name as the Washington Senators!

We played softball every week and hosted BBQ parties after each game. Our kids played together and we had fun with all of the families, but, as the guys started injuring themselves with dislocated shoulders and pulled hamstrings, we started doing other things and eventually dropped softball all together. And since we were no longer playing the game, we no longer had contact with a lot of those families. 

Twenty years later, I decided to get all of old players and their families together for a reunion, because hey, it’s been Reunion City around here lately. We had completely lost touch with everyone. After digging through Facebook and googling on Google, I managed to find about half of the players, and got in touch.

To my surprise, we had couples flying in from Colorado and Nebraska JUST to attend the reunion! Wow! Getting together with the old team was both invigorating and nostalgic. Although none of us had seen one another in over 20 years, it felt like we had just played a game at Jade Street Park in Capitola and strolled back to our house for the party.

To ensure that we all got to connect with everyone (and because I’m a teacher at heart), we sat in a circle in our living room — like sharing time in preschool! — and gave a 2-minute update on our lives. Not only did we enjoy hearing all the news but we got to learn about things that we didn’t know before. Two players actually went to the same college at the same time and didn’t know it. Imagine that. For those who have remarried, their spouses got a great introduction to the team, and we in turn, learned more about them, too.

We watched a slideshow and video clips from the good ol’ softball days. Even though the photo and video quality was terrible, everyone enjoyed seeing those memories. For those of us who live here in Santa Cruz, we’re planning to get together again.

The guys are now into golf and  it looks like we’re moving in a new sports direction. And because it’s how we (as a society) keep in touch now, I’ve created a Facebook Group for the team and uploaded over 200 photos from the reunion. Reunions are great – you get to remember just what made you friends in the first place.  It’s so nice to reconnect!