This, with some edits, is a rerun of a post from 10 years ago. It's about my spouse's 40th high school reunion.
The Dancing Queen. No longer 17.
The administrator for a children's hospital on the West Coast. The
merger and acquisitions lawyer up from Washington DC. The school
psychologist practicing in Virginia. The financial consultant. The
grandmother of three fresh from a trip to Hawaii. The produce clerk.
The man taking constant phone calls because his father was in the
hospital, a thousand miles away.
What did we all have in common? Six hours of dancing, talking, sharing email addresses, and looking at old photos.
A 40th high school reunion.
Not mine, but my husband's. One of his friends organized it. Before
last night I had only met one of these people, and to my amazement, I
recognized him the minute I saw him.
My husband was already in college
when I met him so his high school years was a part of his life that I was never able to
share.
Until now.
There was the woman who, surveying the room, said to me "This is
surreal". Yes it was and I bet everyone who goes to a reunion
(especially the 30th, the 40th, and beyond) thinks the same thing. When
you age, the people you knew in your childhood (if you don't see them
as adults) are frozen in time. The people you went to high school with
are, in your mind, forever 17 and 18. Even if they are really 58 or 60. (Or, 65 or 66).
Until you go to the reunion, that is, and this is the surreal part. You
walk into the room and see a bunch of middle aged people just like
you. Some look like their yearbook photos. Many do not. Many of us
grey, all of us wrinkled, some of us in shape, others not so much. Some
of us have achieved great things. Some have lived the lives they had
planned to live but for many of us our lives have taken many unexpected
directions. Some good, some not.
We are older, wiser. We accept the class clown, we reminisce about old
antics, we laugh with and hug the classmate who had too much to drink
and is now trying to cry on everyone's shoulder. We know this moment
isn't going to be forever. We know when we have the next reunion we
will be near 70. Maybe we should have these more often.
Will we do that?
Or will we be reabsorbed into our daily lives? Only time will tell.
...forever young in body would be nice.
ReplyDeleteI didn't enjoy boarding school and have never ever gone to a reunion...
ReplyDeleteI didn’t go to any of my reunions, but I’ve gone to my boyfriend’s reunions.
ReplyDeleteFunny story. My daughter’s best friend from high school ... I met her mother but never met her father. Went to my boyfriend’s reunion and I am introduced to one of his old friends. The friend is alone, his wife was unable to come to the party, We talk for a few minutes and then realize that our daughters are best friends.
It's nice to look back on your school years fondly. I will never set foot in one of my reunions voluntarily. I don't ever need to see those people again.
ReplyDeleteI've managed to skip all of mine. Mom would go to all of hers and would have gone to her 50th had she lived. I had to talk to the head of the planning committee who called to see if Mom would be there, and when she heard Mom was dying, she just came out with all these stories about her. Kind of strange hearing about your Mom as a 17-year-old girl...
ReplyDelete