This book was not on any of my best of summer reading lists; however, I stumbled upon it entering my local library to retrieve a book that was on one of my lists, so I am making an exception. The book literally fell into my hands, a reminder that life cannot be so rigid. Interestingly enough In Twenty Years by Allison Winn Scotch skirts around the rules we create for ourselves…the life that we think that we will have and the life that we actually live. This book found me…maybe because, just like the characters, over 20 years ago, I graduated from a small university in Pennsylvania…maybe because I struggle with my purpose in this life…maybe because I don’t remember who I was back then. If only we could all go back in time, trade a day of wisdom and relish in the joy of youthful optimism, recklessness and innocence.
The setting is Philadelphia…a reunion of UPenn grads…not your typical college reunion, but a gathering of friends that were inseparable in college beckoned together 20 years later. Each faces a reconciliation of their skeletons, regrets and personal sorrow with the courageous, optimistic, and energetic ghosts of themselves from 20 years prior. This story is about soul searching, reflection and purpose. The story is about who we all thought we’d be and where we are now. This story is about somehow embracing your youth of yesterday with the wisdom that comes with age. This book is about surrender.
If I owned a beach house, there would be several copies of this book scattered about…as a gentle reminder to those that lose themselves in her pages, of where they wanted to be, where they are standing now and where they must go. It would be a wish to marry your youthful optimism with your age-old wisdom and go forward so that your next 20 years are truly your best.
Read this book. Remember you. Make changes. Move forward.
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