I’m a Blue-Collar Kid from a Blue-Collar Town
During December of 2023, I had the privilege of attending my 50th high school reunion. My high school graduating class has over 400 students in it. Some have unfortunately over the years passed on. Others currently, are having their health struggles. Still others, have as they said, “dropped off the face of the earth,” unable to be contacted. However, 83 of our classmates, (many whom attended with their spouses or partners), were able to reconnect with each other. It was quickly evident to all in attendance, there was a lot of love and good feelings in the room where our reunion event was held.
Some of our classmates have gone on to do special things. One is a major league baseball umpire. Another was a college basketball coach in my home state of New Jersey and has more wins as a coach than any other person who coached at a New Jersey school. Another just published his 2nd book, after becoming an author only in the last few years after a career in the United States Navy. Many have gone onto professions such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc. Still others, have run their own businesses for many years, while others stayed close to home and served as police offers or fire fighters in our home town or nearby surrounding towns.
While we all have taken different paths, and will continue to do so in the remaining time we all have left on earth, when we get together, it is like we are back together in the early 1970’s. Many of us are either 1st or 2nd generation Americans, with either our parents or grandparents having been the ones who emigrated to the United States. As such, many of us did not have college educated parents. We were the first generation in our family to attend college. In doing so, often those colleges prepared us for immediate employment, for “white-collar” job roles. Some did go on to further education, but several of their stories are amazing as to the dedication and sacrifice that was shown for that individual to meet their goal and achieve what they have done in their lives and careers.
Over the course of the last 13 years, I have had the pleasure to meet several wonderful people through my career coaching business. It certainly was not a career path that I had even considered pursuing until having it emerge in front of me after leaving my corporate career in 2008. However, it opened my eyes to several things. One is that everyone has a story in terms of who they are, and from where they have come. Within that story are several “subplots,” that come under the heading of “accomplishment stories,” which show not only what they have done, but how what they have done has benefitted others. Additionally, if they are open and honest about their path, their foundation was set many years ago by the way they took to the lessons that they learned from parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, and their experiences in the places they grew up.
For some, those past experiences can be painful, and they may take every opportunity to get past them. However, for others, and I am one of them, those experiences are the bedrock of shaping the person who I am today, the values I possess and the memories that drive me even now. No matter where life has taken me and will take me, I am as it says in the title of this piece, “A Blue-Collar Kid from A Blue-Collar Town.” And, while I do not actually live there any more, it is still very much a part of my life, as I am back in the area several times a year. It is a foundation that has kept me grounded, kept me focused on being open to helping others and given me great memories and laughs of the experiences I have had in my life. All I can wish for you is that the foundations of your life are continuing to serve you well as you live your life today.
