You are going all the way to Illinois to see some people that you went to college with and a football game?

Darn right I am.

Fifty-five degrees. Sunshine. A slight breeze. The leaves were turning. The smell and the feel of autumn hung in the air. The last leaves of corn were blowing through the air and through the stadium.

This was perfect football weather.

The University of Illinois Fighting Illini and the Northwestern University Wildcats were playing the last game of the season. My class was celebrating their reunion. The weather was perfect for both.

While the stadium is under construction and Chief Illiniwek have been retired, the basic look and feel haven’t changed. There were the good plays and the bad plays. The old alumni and fans cheering on the team and the students just there for the good time. The college friends standing in a row and singing along to the “Alma Mater.” Still the young couples kissing after a good play.

The people too have changed, just like the stadium and the names on the jerseys. Some are still single. Some are married. Some have children. Some are working. Some are building their own businesses.

Perhaps more striking is the fact that the people are still basically the same. Wiser perhaps. More world-weary, perhaps more cynical. Maybe just plain tired.

While nature may have bowed us under her constant pressure of work and family, the basic goodness is still there. The reasons that drew us all together so many years ago, our diverse band of scholars setting out to change the world while so very different, are really not that different at all.

That was the truth then, and that is the truth now.

We might hail from Sweden and France, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, small town and big city – but the basic human goodness that was there all those years ago is still there.

The football game was good. The reunion was great. The people – the people were the best of all.

I’ve never regretted a trip that revolved around friends.