Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Peace in the Process
    • Bringing Home More Than Groceries
  • Contact

Recapping 10 years

July 30, 2007 by Kristin Leave a Comment

A column I wrote in Friday’s Ledger & Times …

Ten years ago I didn’t have an e-mail address and barely knew about cell phones.

Stamps cost 32 cents and the idea of being married and having a baby seemed a world away.

Those were the days when Eric Clapton’s “Change the World” was heard often on radio stations and you probably saw the Titanic sink on the big screen.

And those were the days when University of Kentucky lived up to its tradition as a basketball powerhouse. One NCAA championship banner was hung in Rupp Arena in 1996. The Wildcats made it back to the title game the following the year and then brought home another national trophy in 1998.

Oh, 1997. In most ways, it sounds so long ago, but sometimes it doesn’t feel so much in the past.

Now, I am addicted to checking my e-mail and keep my cell phone near. In fact, I have two e-mail addresses I check regularly and no landline phone number to speak of. I haven’t heard Eric Clapton in a long time and I don’t make a habit of watching Leonardo DiCaprio movies.

Meanwhile, a certain Kentucky basketball coach forgot how to recruit to a school that should basically sell itself and its hardwood. I do hold out hope that the times are changing there.

In 1997, I was graduating from high school and making the decision to come to Murray State to major in print journalism as far away from Oldham County as I could get without leaving the Bluegrass State.

Yep, 10 years ago. Oh, how the times have changed.

And for that I’m certainly thankful.

My husband and I went to my class reunion. Some of the 254 people who made up the Class of 1997 at Oldham County High School reunited for a few hours. And that was plenty of time.

Throughout the years, I’ve kept in touch with a small handful of high school friends, mostly thanks to the e-mail address I check in a slightly obsessive manner. (Seriously, it’s a habit I formed not long after high school graduation when my enrollment at Murray State came with an e-mail address. My parents would say it wasn’t a free address either after all those tuition and housing payments.)

Two of my good high school friends are married so that’s two of the 254 with whom I keep up. Then there’s another friend who I ended up luring to Murray State from UK.

Then there’s a couple friends with whom I reconnected while our reunion was being planned. I’m certain that 10 years ago the Class of 1987 wasn’t organizing their reunion through a Web site and automated phone calls with reminders of the event.

But we did. And I’m sure we Colonels aren’t the only ones using high-tech party planning strategies.

So I spent three hours last weekend reminiscing with some old classmates while my husband spent most of that talking to the friends of mine from those days that he knows now in our life together.

There weren’t any real surprises. Nobody was surprised I write for a newspaper in my grown-up life. I did, after all, get my start in that crowd as managing editor of The Clarion Colonel.

My first boyfriend seems to have a nice family. A childhood friend and I exchanged motherhood stories. A high school classmate who doubled as my first college roommate made a trip for the reunion from New York.

The food was mediocre. The conversation seemed surface — not shallow but quick blurbs that somehow seemed to cover a decade. The memorabilia from our time capsule that got wet in someone’s basement provided some laughs.

And at the end of the night, I left the room knowing it was important to remember some of those people influenced who I am today but thankful for the 10 years since those days at OCHS.

It was worth recapping a decade in a few hours, even though summing up the 10 years that have passed really isn’t that simple.

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: friends, work, writing

Comments

  1. Alexa says

    August 2, 2007 at 3:54 am

    I went to OCHS too! I discovered, though, that my class reunion has been canceled. Feeling sad. May have to do something about that.

    Oh, I posted some new blogs.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let’s Connect

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our high school girl who never forgets, our middle school boy who has no fear, and our joy-filled first-grade girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

Subscribe for Updates

Recent Posts

  • How to host a party
  • All the places she’ll go
  • Cruising for Spring Break
  • How to take care of yourself
  • How to recreate favorite foods

Join the Conversation

Join the Conversation

On Instagram

🎶 All throughout my history / Your faithfulness 🎶 All throughout my history / Your faithfulness has walked beside me / The winter storms made way for spring / In every season, from where I'm standing / I see the evidence of Your goodness / All over my life … 🎶 @joshbaldwin in “Evidence”

I love summer. But my summer has started off busy: appointments, book edits deadline, establish new habits with the kids at home. All that’s necessary and good, it just cuts into my down time beside the pool. 

Today we have two open gyms for our basketball players, my book study with a few friends, a new weekly high school girls’ book study at our house, and a monthly dad-son character study. 

I long for a little more white space on the calendar, but I also wouldn’t change a thing because the kids are only 16, 13, and 7 once. This summer will only be this summer once. And I’ve already learned time flies with big kids. 

So here we are finding out footing, singing praises with church friends on our porch, grilling delicious chicken, and squeezing in the wide-open spaces when we can. This is evidence of the good stuff. 

#84daysofsummer #poolpeople #momlife #momconfessions #faithlife #livingfaithfully #favoritethings #choosingJOY #countryliving #reallife #PorchStories
The Hill family reunion at @shelterpointretreat ha The Hill family reunion at @shelterpointretreat has become a favorite tradition to kick off summer! The weather was perfect and everyone enjoyed one another. 

#familyreunion #lakelife #kentuckylake #kylake #getoutside #familytime #memorialday #memorialdayweekend #favoritethings #84daysofsummer #summerisbest #choosingJOY
Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ #TeamTaylor #girl Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ 

#TeamTaylor #girlmom #boymom #momlife #reallife #summerisbest #siblinglove #countryliving #poolpeople #getoutside
First of all, who else has read this book? The plo First of all, who else has read this book? The plot was promising as a thriller and the setting really worked. There were some good twists, and then there were ridiculous twists. I skimmed the end only because I wanted it to make sense. And it didn’t. It was too weird for me. 

But this made me wonder: how do we know if a book is going to be weird, contain elements we don’t like, or go places that don’t make sense? I don’t like to read much about a book before I read the book. Usually, I do a better job of picking books for myself. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #donotrecommend #bookofthemonth @bookofthemonth
I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant we I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant weather, a mixture of productivity and rest, and had plenty of wide-open space to enjoy our property and each other. 

#weekending #TeamTaylor #poolpeople #countryliving #favoritethings #choosingJOY #maydays
And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watch And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watching them both play. 

#soccermom #weekending #springtime #momlife #girlmom #boymom
On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a book, but I didn’t know what I wanted to read. Whenever I have indecision about books, picking up a thriller usually helps because of the story’s pace. 

“The Only Survivors” worked well because there was a lot happening! Lots of creepy, mysterious moments. Only so many people could be guilty of infiltrating a small group who had lots of secrets! 

I loved the timeline of this one. The back story about an accident was told in seven one-hour segments. The present mystery was told in seven days. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #latergram #bookofthemonth @bookofthemonth #poolpeople #mothersday
Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ And Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ 

And when I say summer, I mean we are ready to shake up the routine, mentally regroup, turn off the alarms, establish some new habits, soak in the sun, and catch up with friends we’ve been crossing paths with too quickly. 

I want to savor the #84daysofsummer and I want to embrace this new season. And it’s almost time. Three more days of school. (Deep breaths.) 

Meanwhile, I’m going to keep collecting the moments — the hard, hurried, happy, and heartfelt. The seasons do change, but this is the life we are living. 

“The moments you collect may not be loud or flashy. They might be quiet or covered or a far-off view you were lucky to catch. But this I know to be true: A moment savored says to your soul, ‘You have lived something beautiful.’ And it keeps you buoyed. It sustains you when you’re running empty. It lifts you up and carries you forward.” — Joanna Gaines in @magnolia summer 2023 journal issue no. 27 

#momlife #reallife #momconfessions #livingfaithfully #summerisbest #teenagedriver #choosingJOY
I’ve read quite a few World War II novels, but t I’ve read quite a few World War II novels, but this one by Soraya M. Lane focused on three nurses, their friendships, and how the war changed their lives. It’s a hard story, but it’s full of love and hope despite the destruction around them. 

And it’s the second historical fiction audiobook I’ve listened to in a row! #KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #audiobooks #Audible #KindleUnlimited #historicalfiction
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Favorites

Categories

Archives

Copyright © 2023 Kristin Hill Taylor | Design by Traci Michele | Development by MRM