High School Reunion

I received the long expected invitation this week. The high school reunion. Twenty five years. Twenty five years! TWENTY FIVE YEARS! I am having trouble believing it. And I also realize it will be difficult to hide my age after revealing that I graduated 25 years ago.

I went to the 20 year reunion. I was curious and I had to go. I did not renew any old friendships. It was fun. I drank. I also remembered why I cut ties with everyone. 

Do I go again? Do I care? The first time I did not know what to expect. Now, I do.

I was a 16 year old when I graduated in 86. The 80s were an eclectic mix. The school was made up of so many social and cultural cliques. Punkers, mods, rockers, geeks, jocks, JAPS, Greeks. I wanted to see all the girls I was crushing on 20 years before. I wanted to see the guys I played basketball with. I wanted to see what happens to punkers when they grow up. A Mohawk with a receding hair line? Safety pins in their jeans bent and corroded from wear and tear?

I had this thought that the girls I was crushing on, the girls that came up to my shoulder in high school, now weigh more than I do, are taller than me, and lost more hair than I did.

I was curious to see the bball players.

How did the tall lean athletes get short and fat?

How can people from 25 years ago have such an impact on our lives today? More time has passed since graduation then the time we actually knew each other.

Fat people got skinny, skinny people got fat.

Do I look different? Changed? Sure. Do I care what people think of me? Hell no.

We know looks change. We forget that people change. I don’t mean just their looks. Are you not a different person now than 20 years ago?

Some old personality traits start coming out though. One old friend asked me if I was married. I told him no, not yet. He then made some derogatory comments towards my sexuality.

5 Years later I find out my tie was crooked.

I reminded him that I used to date his wife. The conversation ended there. But you see, I have matured. And here is proof. In the old days, I would have said, "I used to date your wife, and I still can any time I want to.”


Oddly enough, some of my favorite people, are those that I became friends with right after high school. We went to the same high school but as fate would have it, we became friends later. A couple of them even write a blog. 
Do I go to a class reunion to hang out with a handful of people and ignore another 100? Is it worth it? $100, open bar, food, music. Can I drink $100 worth of alcohol? Hell yeah. Do I want to with these people?


I don't have a moral, or a punchline to end with. Over the next month or two I will speak to friends. I will find out who is going. I am curious how many people go to their high school reunion. Does the class reunion mean that much to everyone? Does the reunion bring back good or bad memories?