The Homecoming

"I'm sitting in a railway station, got a ticket for my destination, hmmm, on a tour of one-night stand, my suitcase and guitar in hand, and every stop is neatly planned, for a poet and a one-man band..." Yo! That's Simon and Garfunkel singing "Homeward Bound", one of our favorite tunes in the 60's when we were in high school. Just the thought that very soon we will be hearing and singing this song again during our homecoming puts me in a certain kind of high. For who would not be excited about meeting classmates again after so many years since high school graduation? There's so much of our yesterdays that I would want to go back to. It was such a wonderful stage in my life, one that will remain forever dear in my memories, whenever I think of my younger days. Our beloved alma mater will soon hold an alumni homecoming. It sure will be another great time to get together and meet classmates, schoolmates, friends, and teachers; of reliving the past, sharing life's adventures, remembering people, places, and events, with us feeling like teenagers again back to a place we call home. With the passage of time, most of us now are finding it hard to decipher words without the use of eyeglasses, or climb up stairs without panting, or walk fast and straight without feeling some pain here and there, and, yes, a litany of aches that comes with aging. Added to these, the wrinkles, age spots, laugh lines, double chin, white hair, receeding hairline, love handles, protuberant tummy, etc. Yes, we are no longer the teenagers that we used to be in the 60's, but deep in us, we all still have that child-like feeling hidden in the inner recesses of our beings, ready to explode come reunion time. Forget about who we are or what we have become. Let's all be children once again. This, to me, is the true essence of a homecoming. As I think about the grand alumni homecoming, I can't help but get excited about who's who in our hometown now? What has become of my classmates? Who are those who have gone ahead of us to the Great Beyond? Who are those who are lolos and lolas now? What have become of our "puppy loves" and "crushes"? Where are the school majorettes and the members of the drum and bugle corps? The president of the student council? The valedictorians? The Algebra or Biology teacher? Our class adviser? The basketball heroes? The volleyball players? The cheering squad members? How do they look now after all these years? All these and more will be unravelled only if and when we take a trip back home, homeward bound to our beloved alma mater. And if only for these, I think coming home to a home is worth our time and effort. "When I think of home, I think of a place where there's love overflowing. I wish I was home. I wish I was back, there with the things I've been knowing. Wind that makes the tall trees bend into leaning. Suddenly the raindrops that fall have a meaning, sprinkling the sea, makes it clear..."