Somewhere in the Amazon, A Lawyer Roams...

Last weekend, my college alumni magazine landed in my mailbox. I hardly ever take the time to read the articles---I always go straight to the back of the magazine to look at the alumni notes, where I greedily devour updates from the Classes of '98 and '04. (Yes, I was a member of two graduating classes, although I only made it to commencement once. But that's another tale for another post.)

After I check in on those two classes, I go back and read all the class notes, from 1928 through the present. Each era has a kind of gestalt, which can usually be boiled down to a single question:

• Who has died? (These grads have fabulous old guy names and nicknames. Eads. Whitelaw. Sperl. Sport. Knobby.)
• Who has retired from a long and illustrious career in law/medicine/white collar crime?
• Whose child has been accepted to Fancypants U.?
• Who got engaged/married/had a baby? (Again, the names here are interesting. What do upper middle class parents call their swaddling babes? Julian. Eva. Ainslie. Averil. Yates.)
• Who is starting/finishing their M.D./J.D./M.B.A. ?

Really, only the shining lights of each class send in notes---the war heroes, the world travelers, the double-doctor marriages. Those of us who are leading humdrum lives in Bedford Falls, holding it down at the old Building and Loan, tend not to contribute such humble news as we have. The litany of victories can actually get kind of tedious. But sometimes you stumble on something unexpected and wonderful. Like this news from a '99er:

"I'm leaving in three days for the Peruvian Amazon to study with Chipibo Shamans for three months. During the past several years I've been living in collective artistic community spaces---one called "Wonderland" that I founded in NYC with several other [alumni] and one in San Francisco...I got a J.D. in 2004 but have decided not to practice law, and am going to study neuropsychology when I get back from Peru, hopefully sticking to the criminal justice field...but who knows? Anything can happen."

And it's true. Anything can happen. It's good to be reminded that life is filled with wonder and possibility. If law school doesn't work out, the Peruvian Amazon will still welcome you with open arms.