Yantai Story 丨 A late class reunion

In today's society, gathering is a very fashionable word, and friends and relatives from all over the world will gather together to evoke many people's sweet memories of the past. The multitude of gatherings brought people closer together. Classmate gatherings, veterans gatherings, gatherings of relatives and friends, etc., the exciting scenes stir up the waves of feelings in everyone's heart, and it is difficult to calm down for many days. People from all over the country who have studied and worked together, in the midst of a busy schedule, take time out of the wind and dust to come and get together. How could that scene not bring tears to people's eyes! The tightly clenched hands did not want to let go because they had not seen each other for a long time. Although the years have put different marks on everyone's face, the true memories of the past are a common topic for everyone. The gushing words, the unconcealed excitement, were vividly expressed in various gathering scenes.

I went to junior high school in 1963, and I spent 3 years of junior high school smoothly, and when I was about to go to high school, the Cultural Revolution came, and I never calmed down to read books. In the two years of high school, most of them were mainly labor,away from real book knowledge. After graduation, I had the honor of becoming a private teacher, and then I became a public teacher, and in this way, in the garden of education, I worked hard until I retired. Sometimes I also think that some of my junior high school classmates have developed very well, some have power, some have money, but none of them have stepped forward to organize a class reunion. Whenever I see or hear others attending a class reunion, I feel envious in my heart, and it seems that I can only leave a deep regret in my life!

However, just this year, in late May 2021, there was an exciting news of the great news, a phone call informing me that I would organize a junior high school reunion in the town of Teraguchi, where I was going to school, on June 1. Hearing this news, my heart rolled up and down like the water of the Buddha, and it was difficult to sleep for several consecutive nights. It has been 55 years since graduating from junior high school, the years are merciless, in these 55 years, one-third of the people have left this world, there are less than 40 people, how many can there be? Leading the gathering was a doctor who graduated from Laiyang School of Traditional Chinese Medicine and had her lung cancer removed. A woman with an illness actually remembered to hold a class reunion, which naturally made me look at her with admiration. Maybe she was lying in bed all day, very lonely, and wanted to seek spiritual enjoyment that made her body and mind happy through this form, or maybe she didn't want to bury her classmate friendship in her heart in her lifetime.

This belated class reunion, I will never miss.

The party was arranged in a nice restaurant in town. That day, my son-in-law drove a few old classmates from our county town together, and I specially brought two bottles of good wine. My family is in the countryside, often go back to see the old house, the old classmates can still see a few, meet each other, meet and greet. And the students in the field have not returned to their hometown for many years, met each other, and if no one introduces them, they can't recognize each other. It is not surprising that the years are just, it will leave the traces of the years on everyone's face, but the wrinkles on the face are dark and shallow. As you can imagine, after 55 years of not seeing, everyone wants to spit out the words in their hearts, and the scene is extremely warm. Fortunately, everyone is old, they all have a relatively peaceful mentality, there is no longer a flaunting of power, there will be no money and wealth, and some are just a kind old man with a smile, all asking each other how their bodies are, how life is, and the intimate and lung-sticking words reach everyone's heart. I have always thought that because everyone's fate and opportunities are different, life must be different, and the purpose of the party is to make everyone's heart full of happiness. I say to you that of the 18 people we are gathering today, 8 of them have jobs and pensions, 10 of them live by manual labor in the fields of crops, and the so-called differences between us are mostly caused by chance, we are equal in personality, and we can live to have a good body, which is a blessing from God. Everyone agreed with me, and recounted his life differently and happily, the party was always full of laughter and laughter, although this party came later, but it will leave an eternal memory in everyone's heart.

Over 70 years old classmates gathering, this is really an extremely rare fate, it will not cause pressure on everyone's heart, people are old, is to cherish the health and life of the present, people are old, always have a happy state of mind, is the best explanation for their families. No matter how much time life gives us, we have to face the sunset, raise a smiley face, live happily, and grow old gracefully.

Author: Liu Zhiming

Edit: Huang Yufeng