#wayne cooper

November 11, 2003 —   Mercedes Australian Fashion Week.

find wonderful by fashionsmodernsoul featuring a black tote

Last night we had our Primary School Reunion.

Yes, PRIMARY school.

The second reunion in as many years (after a 30-year hiatus). 

I could go on for hours, days, about how amazing it is to reconnect with those that we shared our playful, uncomplicated, prepubescent years with. But for today, I want to focus on one person in particular.

Wayne Cooper.

Since graduating primary school in 1982 I had lost contact with all but two students, of which neither were Wayne. Memories faded as I eagerly raced towards adolescence and adulthood, I had no desire to go 'back'. 

There was one person, however, whom I wondered about. Wayne Cooper. On random occasions, he'd pop into my head and leave me curious about whatever happened to him. 

But why, above everyone else, Wayne Cooper? 

We were buddies, sure, but there were so many other people that wore my best friend badge throughout those formative years. We didn't fall in puppy love, our families didn't know each other and we didn't live in the same street - so why Wayne?

Soon after our 30-year reintroduction, we enquired about each other's teachers to see what classes we shared. It turned out that we were together in Grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (pretty impressive considering I did Grade Prep at another school). I can't think of another individual that I would have been consistently in the presence of for (approximately) 7-hours a day, 5 days a week, 38 weeks per year, over 5 consecutive years from 1977 to 1981.

What marvels me is that for someone with such attached memories, I was oblivious to the fact that Wayne and I had shared that much time together. He was a constant in my fledgling years, like the vanity set on my Queen Anne dressing table. Always there.

By the time I was slipping my feet into heels, I was of the belief that I had put my childish primary past behind me. Yet Wayne's guerrilla ambushing of my thoughts would prove otherwise.

After three decades of trying to figure out what it is to be a grown up (which by the way, is not much clearer to me now than what it was in 1977), something happened when I reconnected with Wayne. 

I felt the same burst of delight that I would feel when my grandparents surprised us with late-night visits in the middle of summer bearing sweet, refreshing and sticky icy-poles (popsicles / ice lollies). 

Pure. 

Unadulterated. 

Joy. 

Having known Wayne since the age of six, then spending the next five years together in the same classroom, an invisible bungee cord must have been woven between us then and now. It took all but half a nanosecond to be flung into feelings of childlike rapture and free spirited joy, sans awkwardness.

With this in mind, I must remind myself that Project Letting Go is not about throwing the proverbial baby out with bathwater. It is about letting go of things, fears, pain and notions that hold me back. It's not about severing ties that might propel me forward. 

Red Hat Lady by marastyle featuring special occasion dresses ❤ liked on Polyvore