The Maui Stamper

Last weekend I made a whirlwind trip to attend my high school reunion.  I took goodie bags for the people who made it happen – and they worked very hard!  Before I left, I made up some simple tags for the bags:

• Stamps:  Wild About Flowers, Gorgeous Grunge, Tin of Cards
• Color Palette:  Whisper White, Soft Suede, Basic Black, Real Red, Blushing Bride, Daffodil Delight
• Accessories:  Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Stamp n’ Write Marker, corner rounder punch

A hand-made tag is a lovely personal touch and I made 10 of these in about 15 minutes – you can’t get much quicker than that!  I cut our new heavy-weight Whisper White card stock into 2″ x 8 1/2″ strips and punched the each end with the Tag Topper, then cut them in half and rounded the opposite corners.  Stamp, stamp, stamp and done!

Last week I shared THESE tags, and they were quick too.

My trip, while insanely fast, was well worthwhile.  I got to spend time with my parents, which is always special.  My sister and her family joined us on Friday night for drinks (my niece has just turned 21) and then dinner.  I got to spend time with a dear friend from high school.  And I reconnected with people I knew, and built new relationships with people I barely knew.

Sally and I were friends in high school, college frosh roomies, and then went our separate ways for about 35 years.  A year or so ago, she tracked me down and we picked up where we left off.  If she hadn’t messaged me to say that she was coming to reunion and I should too, I wouldn’t have attended.  Lesson one:  reach out to old friends.

Lesson two:  EVERYONE feels nervous about attending reunion.  I talked to a lot of different classmates, and it seemed we all felt the same apprehension as we approached the event.  And yet, as we shared our stories, we laughed and agreed that we were so happy we’d made the effort.

I talked to people with whom I’d had classes or been in clubs together or shared a summer job.  And I also talked to people that I’m pretty sure were never on my radar in high school.  But I enjoyed renewing old relationships and especially developing new ones, and that made the trip worthwhile.  Lesson three:  The people you most enjoy speaking with may not be the people you thought you were coming to see.

Sally is escorting her youngest to college this weekend – it will be a bittersweet time for them both.  I’m home, slightly reeling from traveling over 5,000 miles in a weekend.  And we are both the better for the adventure.  And still crazy after all these years.