This year marks 15 years out of high school. I had a hand in planning our 10th reunion so when a classmate reached out asking if we would be having a 15 year reunion, I thought, well, what the heck. It will be short notice for some but if you can't make it we'll catch you at the next one. Reunion time always brings up different feelings for people.
I hear a lot of the perspective along these lines: I don't care about seeing people from so long ago, we weren't friends then why would we be friends now?, I've moved on, it feels like living in the past, I have a life. All of that is a valid argument, and I'm not likely to change your mind if that's how you feel.
But I have a different feeling about it. For starters I've always been a bit of a connector with my friends & people I know, I've always liked hosting & planning, and I love keeping in touch with people. So duh, high school reunions are way up my alley.
More than that though I think it's so cool and so interesting to think about the shared history and life experience you can have with people you don't even know anymore. Many of my classmates I've known for almost 30 years! Whether we stay in touch or not, once every 5-10 years I do think it's fun and nice to see your face and some part of me will at the minimum be curious about your life and always care to some extent about how you're doing. And ya know, there are people going through real things right now. One night of hanging out with people you've known your entire life, and just focusing on the good ole days, a simpler time, could be a nice break from reality.
Some other random thoughts as I've started digging through old journals, pictures, and chatting with old friends as we make plans:
-High school is funny, most of my memories are of course with my core group of friends, but as I read what I wrote so many different circles overlapped more than I remember
-Thanks to Facebook, I've actually built friendships with people now as an adult more than I ever did in school
-People have a love/hate relationship with small towns...there's definitely the common "downsides" of feeling like everyone knows your business, etc... but there's tons of cool things about it, the coolest being that shared history. For me personally distance has only made the heart grow fonder. I love my life now and where I live, but I could just as easily be back in Heyworth sitting on the sidelines of every game. In fact that was my life ambition when we graduated. To be a super fan!!
-Which leads me to a realization I had looking at my old year book. I was literally involved in NO activity during high school, and yet as an adult I love to get involved, and here I am planning the reunions. I was a super fan though. I didn't play sports but I was watching every game. I kept all the newspaper clippings--loved getting up Saturday morning to see the paper after Friday night's football game!
-I'm so happy I'm still in touch with my core group of people. I love collecting people and keeping those relationships strong. I mean, I am still in touch with my penpal from Rhode Island-- we were matched when we were 8 years old! I still see my girls I met in Africa who live in Scotland & Canada! I see my hometown buddies that are free every time I'm home; we meet up with California friends as often as possible.
-Going back to high school/overlapping circles... I had more parties than I thought. Yes, I had sleepovers nearly every weekend but that group of people changed and grew and so many of them I forget ever happened
-I am SO excited for our reunion. Not only because I think most people are in a similar boat as me-- changing, growing, happy with themselves so we can just enjoy each other & kick back, but also because it helps me forget the real reason I'm going home in June-- because my 3 nephews are graduating from 8th grade! Thinking on that too long will make me cry myself to sleep, they can't really be this old??!
Seeya soon old friends.
