REUNION
The country club was just around the corner, only 20 meters along the snow dusted lane. Another year had passed already.
He shifted his car back into drive and after a deep, steadying breath, eased his way along the remaining length of the tree lined lane and into the crowded parking lot. Every year, in the weeks before Christmas, they got together. Immediately after school it had been at one of the pubs or nightclubs where they had first bonded, but they had outgrown those places years ago.
It was still early, but the dining hall was pretty crowded already. He wandered the room, saying hello to his old friends, trading hugs and handshakes with each new encounter.
These were the people he had grown up with. These were some of his oldest friends, and yet this year they almost seemed like strangers.
The old familiarity was still there but things were different. It wasn't just the new haircuts, the photos of growing children, or the extra inches on waist lines. It was more than that this year.
He looked around the room at the faces of the guys he had played football with, his study partners from math class, even the girl he had lost his virginity to, as frail and ethereal today as she had been all those years ago.
It was great to see them all again, but this year was the first time he had arrived at the reunion also knowing it might be his last. That's what made it so different.
He paused under the mistletoe, a glass of wine in his hand, and hoped the night would last forever.
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