A Reunion Story
I have just returned from my 20th high school reunion. Yes, I am old. It was a very nice event, even though it was clear that the organization that had arranged it messed up somewhat -- no nametags or alumni directories, and when we got there there wasn't even a list. "Did you pay?" the woman at the door asked. She also asked me how much we had paid, so I'm thinking she was from the country club and not the reunion organization and they were managing the door after no one else showed up. The food was kind of lame too, but that didn't really matter.
Because it had been so expensive, most people didn't come with significant others in tow, which also made it easier to catch up. My best friend from high school (whom I hadn't seen in probably 17 years -- yikes!) put it best -- "Everyone looks the same, except that you're looking at them through a fun house mirror' -- everyone was either slimmer (mostly the women) or heavier (mostly the men). The men were harder to spot, mostly due to hairline issues. Only about a quarter of the class showed up, which was too bad, as there were a bunch of people I would have liked to see. A couple of people said they had been nervous about showing up, which really confused me -- after 20 years, who gives a damn about what so-and-so thinks now, although it did get me thinking about the thinness of the women. I'm hoping that no one decided to skip the reunion because they put on a few pounds, although knowing this group, I'm sure some did.
Although one thing got me thinking. There was a guy I had a crush on all throughout high school -- it might even have started in middle school, who can remember now? As we were standing around waiting to go in, one of the members of his group of friends said to me "hey, someone's driving up behind us who's going to be really glad to see you!" And they meant Mr. High School Crush. Now, I didn't really know his group of friends all that well, so it's not like they were making fun of me for an obvious long ago crush that they all knew about. (To this day I really don't telegraph those kinds of things at all, which has gotten me into some situations, too, but that's another blog) Wouldn't it have been funny if he had had some kind of crush on me all those years ago and I never knew it? Of course I didn't ask, but if I did ever find out it's true, I might still kick the table just a little. I remember that he spent a lot of time signing my yearbook back then -- taking up almost a whole page -- and I remember being a little surprised, as we were always friendly and in a lot of the same classes, but not full-page-in-the-yearbook friendly, if you know what I mean. I was damn glad to have that page, though :-)
When he turned up we talked for a bit, and he showed me pictures of his wife and three gorgeous kids. (He and all the siblings in his family were gorgeous themselves, it doesn't remotely surprise me that his kids were too) He's still really really nice -- one of the reasons the girls had a crush on him was that he was one of those good looking guys who never seemed to realize it and was just nice. I'm glad he's doing well.
So many of the other people still were the same people they were 20 years ago, just the grownup version, which meant that some of them were more interesting now and some less so. I noticed something else about the dynamic too which gives some insight into things we all missed back then -- some people came up to me and really wanted to catch up and remembered a lot about me, people whom I had always known but not very well, and others who I had though I had known very well didn't seem to remember who I was all that much. I think we're all not that savvy when it comes to our place in the universe. Although my old best friend and I were speaking in code in about four minutes. We even turned up in almost the same outfit. That one was the other half of my brain back then, and we're still on the same wavelength. And for you all you #squeezesters out there, she was the one who was just as gung-ho as I was about camping out at night to get tickets to the band, and has a very soft spot for the Young Ones.
Ah, high school in the John Hughes Movie generation.
I have just returned from my 20th high school reunion. Yes, I am old. It was a very nice event, even though it was clear that the organization that had arranged it messed up somewhat -- no nametags or alumni directories, and when we got there there wasn't even a list. "Did you pay?" the woman at the door asked. She also asked me how much we had paid, so I'm thinking she was from the country club and not the reunion organization and they were managing the door after no one else showed up. The food was kind of lame too, but that didn't really matter.
Because it had been so expensive, most people didn't come with significant others in tow, which also made it easier to catch up. My best friend from high school (whom I hadn't seen in probably 17 years -- yikes!) put it best -- "Everyone looks the same, except that you're looking at them through a fun house mirror' -- everyone was either slimmer (mostly the women) or heavier (mostly the men). The men were harder to spot, mostly due to hairline issues. Only about a quarter of the class showed up, which was too bad, as there were a bunch of people I would have liked to see. A couple of people said they had been nervous about showing up, which really confused me -- after 20 years, who gives a damn about what so-and-so thinks now, although it did get me thinking about the thinness of the women. I'm hoping that no one decided to skip the reunion because they put on a few pounds, although knowing this group, I'm sure some did.
Although one thing got me thinking. There was a guy I had a crush on all throughout high school -- it might even have started in middle school, who can remember now? As we were standing around waiting to go in, one of the members of his group of friends said to me "hey, someone's driving up behind us who's going to be really glad to see you!" And they meant Mr. High School Crush. Now, I didn't really know his group of friends all that well, so it's not like they were making fun of me for an obvious long ago crush that they all knew about. (To this day I really don't telegraph those kinds of things at all, which has gotten me into some situations, too, but that's another blog) Wouldn't it have been funny if he had had some kind of crush on me all those years ago and I never knew it? Of course I didn't ask, but if I did ever find out it's true, I might still kick the table just a little. I remember that he spent a lot of time signing my yearbook back then -- taking up almost a whole page -- and I remember being a little surprised, as we were always friendly and in a lot of the same classes, but not full-page-in-the-yearbook friendly, if you know what I mean. I was damn glad to have that page, though :-)
When he turned up we talked for a bit, and he showed me pictures of his wife and three gorgeous kids. (He and all the siblings in his family were gorgeous themselves, it doesn't remotely surprise me that his kids were too) He's still really really nice -- one of the reasons the girls had a crush on him was that he was one of those good looking guys who never seemed to realize it and was just nice. I'm glad he's doing well.
So many of the other people still were the same people they were 20 years ago, just the grownup version, which meant that some of them were more interesting now and some less so. I noticed something else about the dynamic too which gives some insight into things we all missed back then -- some people came up to me and really wanted to catch up and remembered a lot about me, people whom I had always known but not very well, and others who I had though I had known very well didn't seem to remember who I was all that much. I think we're all not that savvy when it comes to our place in the universe. Although my old best friend and I were speaking in code in about four minutes. We even turned up in almost the same outfit. That one was the other half of my brain back then, and we're still on the same wavelength. And for you all you #squeezesters out there, she was the one who was just as gung-ho as I was about camping out at night to get tickets to the band, and has a very soft spot for the Young Ones.
Ah, high school in the John Hughes Movie generation.
posted by Lily @ Sunday, September 10, 2006
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