Then and now

I showed Enfant Terrible the photos we took at the high school state athlete reunion thing I attended last Saturday, and he killed himself laughing at how much weight my seniors have gained.

"They...," he gasped, "used to... represent... Selangor?!"

Well, we all did; that's why our coach invited us back there (it was also his birthday. Good timing!).

He's also writing a book, but this post is about how people change after they leave school.

I mean, how are you going to fight gravity? In the 1980s, my seniors were young men and women in their prime whose very presence struck fear in the hearts of their rivals. That might have had something to do with our coach's fearsome reputation, but yanno, we had to hurdle those hurdles ourselves.

Anyway, that was then, and nigh on 30 years have passed since their glory days. People grow emotionally and also sideways over time. Can you actually blame a person for looking increasingly comfortable as they age?

For my part, I was actually quite chunky in Form 5, and mightily unhappy with it. I lost the weight when I went to matriculation and university, then regained it, plus interest, when I started this blog. I've lost that weight since then, and am quite happy being 52-53 kg. I had ranged 49-59 kg, which I guess is within the standard deviation?

I feel privileged to have met these people (younger and older) in Saturday. We were/are all part of something, and somewhere out there are still people who shiver with fright when they hear our names.