One good thing about cleaning all my crap out of storage is that I get to look through all the old memorabilia that I've collected throughout the ages. While going through some old video tapes and throwing them out, I ran across a tape of some home movies from high school. Not being one to turn down a good reason to put my spring cleaning on hold for a while, I popped the tape in the VCR. There were a few marching band competitions (yes, I was in band) and a skit we did for senior English class. There was also a tape of my high school graduation.

Looking back on it, I don't think of high school graduation as some big event. Actually, looking back on it now it all seems trivial. But at the time it was a big deal. I had forgotten about all the family members that had shown up. This guy was there, as was his mom and brother. That's no small feat considering they lived 600 miles away. His high school chum John was also there. My grandfather and late grandmother were also there with bells on. Another of my Aunts was there with her husband who is since deceased. And of course my older sister and parents were there. My sister was a mere 20 years young, and my father had some strange 1980's style tuft of hair on his upper lip.

I don't even want to talk about the clothes. Everyone pictured looked utterly rediculous, including me. Sure my suit was concealed under my cap and gown but unfortunately our high school colors were powder blue and white (and the gown wasn't white). Thankfully my mom had forced me to get a hair cut. Junior and senior year my hair wasn't exactly long, but it had that typical 1980s thickness to it that came down over the ears. I couldn't imagine letting it get that long today.

What struck me as being most notable about the graduation video wasn't the people, but rather what happened at the end. After all the caps were thrown and after all the speeches were given, someone took to the microphone and offered a prayer. And here, at this government sponsored school function, people of all faiths bowed their head and prayed to God. Does that still happen in this day and age?

Overall the trip down memory lane was enjoyable, and I'm thankful that we had actually captured some of those events on video. It really makes me realize how much time is fleeting. In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."