Well, it’s been almost 10 years since I graduated high school. A decade. To be honest, I hardly feel older today than I did then. I have to actually look at my year books and see that there has been a chance to even acknowledge that I have changed physically in that time. Through the gradfinder website I got a hold of people (in a way) and one of the girls from my grad class has taken it upon herself to do the organization of the reunion, which is cool. Tomorrow, in about 15 hours there will be a pre-reunion meeting to get things organized (or something like that).
I have to admit I am a bit nervous.
Up until a week or so ago I had the attitude of “sure, reunion, whatever, no big deal,” but as the prospect of the reality is getting closer, I think more and more about it. I am confident that I’ve done well. I may not feel like anything has changed, but I’ve done things. Got a degree, worked for some interesting companies, and even started my own company. I’ve gained a few pounds, but time in the gym has started that back down, with some of those pounds being translated into muscle lately (and I plan to be a god by the time the real reunion comes in the summer).
Still, it’s a bit of a scary prospect, more so because it’s the first one. I have to keep on thinking back to my mom, who went to her 30 year (I think) reunion of her nursing school class, and had an absolute blast. That’s the thought that keeps on coming back to the top of my head.
I didn’t have the most wonderful high school experience. As a nerd/geek/outcast I was definately not at the top of the food chain (note: good article on this). However, I wasn’t right at the bottom, nor did I stay there, I think I moved up a bit as time went on. I’d still love to go back to grade 8 knowing what I know now…. I’d rule that place!
Anyway, back on track. I’m still kinda excited about seeing people again, and seeing how they turned out. In theory I won’t revert to my high school persona, as we’re all mature now right? It sounds like there will be mostly people that I wasn’t in a lot of contact with there, which is probably a good thing. There are still at least one guy who I probably would still hold a grudge too, and wouldn’t mind having a bit of conversation with in a dark alley if you know what I mean.
In anticipation of that, and the fact that everyone she called to confirm coming to the pre-reunion meeting asked who else was going to be there, she sent this:
Everyone I’ve called to confirm/invite is asking “Who else will be there?” so a) there’s a lot of excitement about seeing people from our grad class and/or b) there’s a lot of trepidation about seeing people from our grad class.
I really want to make this reunion about who we are NOW, the people we’ve become, and perhaps about forgiving and healing past wounds. Everyone went through crap in high school – that’s partly what reunions are about – enough distance achieved to say “I lived through this” and the potential to see sides of people you didn’t know existed.
I think because we’re still relatively young it might be harder to accept that people have gained weight, lost hair, etc… in another twenty years everyone will expect everyone else to be greying, pot-bellied, and starting to get senile (well, maybe not the last one). Anyway, some of that is what’s coming to hit me.
We’ll see how it goes, I am looking forward to seeing how people are and where they are. I’d look forward more to seeing where my friends from high school are now, though. I plugged some of their names into google the other day. One I found sort of, the company he was with said he wasn’t there anymore, but said they’d forward my note to his new phone # (no idea if they have though). Another guy has the same name as some famous civil war general, so that was a pretty pointless search. A couple of other names that were more unique didn’t get many hits, one did but it was about a transsexual somewhere in the deep south, so I don’t think that’s the right one.
So tomorrow I’ll head to the gym in the morning, shave, and try to look as good as possible without looking like I’m trying to look good, and hope that everyone else there is going to do the same.