Have you ever sat on a good idea for a long time? Perhaps growing older can be  a catalyst to act because if you wait too long, you might miss the opportunity. It was for me.  I always thought that  reunions would be fun and meaningful. They would be an opportunity to renew friendships, catch up with former classmates or colleagues and have a few heart felt laughs. Who wouldn't want  the chance to travel back to  simpler times and to a place that was at some point home. But despite all those reasons, I never acted on what I knew was a good idea. In fact, friendships gathered dust as the years rolled by  

A couple of years ago, as I rounded the turn at 50,  I went to a reunion of former work colleagues. It was a lot of laughs and brought back many great memories and feelings. So I kept the momentum up and attended my 30th college reunion last June. That too was a good time and caused me to reconnect with friends including my long lost first year roommate. Then just a month ago I went to my 35th high school reunion. I had attended an all boys high school in the Bronx. Ten percent of the class made it back for this reunion.It was a simple affair which worked perfectly.

 I had not seen many of my former high school classmates in 30+ years. The most remarkable thing to me were the stories I had forgotten but that other people carried with them. I had caddied while I was in high school and earned enough money to buy a used Pinto that I drove to school my senior year. One of my former classmates heartily thanked me because apparently numerous times in our senior year I picked him up as he was hitch hiking home from school. Another friend recounted how three of us had rented a limo for our senior prom. Afterwards we had gone to Dangerfields (Rodney Dangerfield's old comedy club in Manhattan) and proceeded to get kicked out because one of us was a little too loud.   

I did a lot of thinking and remembering on my flight home. For me these reunions were a really good thing. A simple but very effective way to bring more meaning to life by connecting me to some distant friends and memories. In the numerous stories told that night and the different paths that friends have taken, I realized how random life can be. It can take unforeseen turns and we do not always have as much control as we think we have. It was clear that over 35 years, small things add up to make a big difference. It is a useful model when thinking about investing. You don't have control over short-term market movements. But there are things like taxes and costs that you can control. And you can clearly control the most important thing which is how you think about and react to market movements. Stay disciplined so you don't chase things and put the small differences to work in your favor.You might be surprised at how much a difference it makes in the long run.