I am working out at a new gym this week and I received quite the surprise this morning. As I was about to march off to the cardio section of this particular north Spokane gym, I heard someone call out my name.

“Hey, Brent Reser?”

My direction turned to the man who said my name. We had entered the gym around the same time and I had definitely noticed him but didn’t think there was any connection as he was wearing a hat and we were both focused on our workouts. But as I gazed over at him with a slightly puzzled look, he ended the mystery by quickly identifying himself. It was my high school assistant principal!

We took just a couple minutes to catch up but it was really nice to see him after so many years. It also helped that he told me I didn’t look much older since the day I graduated high school (yeah right! 😂).

Since moving back to my hometown three years ago, I can say that it has been such a joy re-connecting with people from my childhood and teen years. To be honest, when I returned to Spokane in 2020 after 15 years away, I thought it might be awkward to see people who I last saw a decade and a half ago. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Over the past few years, I have run into old friends and acquaintances at the store, community events, and the park. I have also bumped into blasts from the past under more unique circumstances. For example, on Halloween when I was passing out candy at my parents’ house, an old classmate brought his child to the door. Last weekend at the wedding I attended, the photographer was an old elementary school friend. And then of course this morning I chatted with my high school principal as we pumped iron.

Each time I have engaged with someone after not seeing them for 15 years or more, I have walked away feeling energized. It hasn’t been weird or uncomfortable but rather interesting and a little inspiring. No matter how small the role we had played in each other’s lives, we were able to recognize that history and celebrate it.

I didn’t attend my 10-year high school reunion because I was living on the east coast at the time. But even if geographic limitations didn’t factor into my absence, I don’t know if I would have attended. With my 20-year reunion just a couple years away, I am actually looking forward to it.

I feel fortunate to live in the area where I grew up and I have appreciated re-uniting with some of those people who I knew from my original/first stint in Spokane. It is important to embrace, not avoid, these opportunities. Don’t Blink.

On Friday night, Sloan ran into the house full of excitement.

“Can I pet the snake?!”

After she blurted out the question in a winded and enthusiastic tone, she managed to add a couple of sentences of context. Some neighbors had a snake in their yard and they wanted to make sure Sloan had permission to touch it. Sidney and I looked at each other.

“You go!” my wife commanded.

You bet I will, I thought. I was as excited to be around this snake as Sloan was.

These neighbors live right off the street that we do. Because there is a little bit of distance separating us, it was the first time I had met them. What a way for us to become acquainted! I only needed to take a couple steps off my property before I could already see the snake.

The reptile was wrapped around the neck of my neighbor, Justin. Sally—the snake—was much larger than I had imagined. Sloan’s cul-de-sac friends and Beau were all standing around Justin as he taught the children about Sally in a very age appropriate and animated way.

Justin introduces Sally to the neighbor children.

Justin’s wife, Allie, was standing by with hand sanitizer for the kids. Sally originally belonged solely to Allie! When her and Justin started dating and later married, Sally was part of the deal. Although a little hesitant of Sally at first, Justin has completely warmed up to her.

Despite the very controlled situation, Sid couldn’t bring herself to meet Sally. If there is one fear that is most prevalent in my wife’s life, it is the fear of snakes. She has a tough enough time if one comes on the TV or if a snake is depicted in one of the books I read to Sloan and Beau.

In South Carolina, wild snakes slither freely. Our house in Myrtle Beach backed up to some woods and it was a haven for snakes. It wasn’t uncommon that they would come into our backyard. Sidney, who enjoys doing yard work, delegated all the lawn maintenance to me while we lived there 😊

We all have things that make us squirm. Bugs bring about the same reaction in me as snakes do for Sid. But snakes? I think they are cool and it was a treat to meet Sally on Friday. Don’t Blink.

There is a shopping center in the Spokane area that we frequent often. For those familiar with these parts, the Argonne Village is home to a Yoke’s supermarket, Pizza Hut, a hardware store, and even our gym. And, like most other shopping centers in Spokane, it also boasts a Dollar Tree.

Beau and Sloan navigate the candy aisle at Dollar Tree this past Saturday.

The past couple of times we have visited this particular Dollar Tree we have witnessed shoplifting. Each instance, a person gathered their items and made a bolt for the door. These individuals knew the significance of clearing the threshold of the entrance/exit door in context of Dollar Tree’s no-pursuit policy. The company mandates that the moment a customer steps foot on the pavement outside of the store, employees are prohibited from following or attempting to retrieve the stolen inventory.

Of course the policy doesn’t prevent the employees from telling the shoplifters off. The last time this escapade occurred my kids watched as the two gentlemen working the registers that day told the woman as she marched through the parking lot, in less than diplomatic terms, not to come back.

These recent episodes are very explicit and raw ways for Sloan and Beau to see what stealing is and how it is wrong. At the same time, it is my hope that we can convey to them that stealing isn’t always so obvious.

I think most of us can admit that we have stolen too. No, it might not be a brazen shoplifting attempt but perhaps in moments of weakness we have taken more than we were supposed to, cheated our employer of time, or pocketed something that we should have turned in.

Although not proud of it at all, I have a personal theft story. While in college, some friends and I thought it would be a good idea to “take” a souvenir from a couple of the bars we would frequent. Perhaps motivated by liquid courage and the erroneous thought that the glassware supply was endless, we each managed to swipe a pint glass from two Missoula bars after we drank the beer that was in them.

Oh, they will never miss a couple pint glasses, I rationalized. This is so far removed from “real” stealing, I told myself. Wrong and wrong.

I look back now on my act of stealing with disgust and embarrassment. Those two pint glasses? They stayed with me throughout my time in Missoula but when I moved to South Carolina my parents took my collection of pint glasses (both honestly obtained and the two that I swiped) back to their house. When we moved back to Spokane, the two that I stole from the bars still had spots in my mom’s cupboard.

I refuse to drink out of them.

It is important that my children know what stealing is, the specificity with which it is addressed in the Ten Commandments, and, eventually, the many forms it takes. Although they are at a young age where I feel they just need to be aware of the broad concept of stealing, I will have a humbling example (and the actual evidence) to share with them down the road. Don’t Blink.