I Never Thought I'd Be A Reunion Guy
Sam Weber: So how's your life?
Karen: Oh, great. How's yours?
Sam Weber: Not so great.
Karen: Ohhh, we're telling the truth.
Remember The Big Chill? School reunions are somewhat like that except on a grander scale. It's not about the location of the event, it's all about the people and the relationships.
I really never did think I'd be attending this kind of stuff. When I graduated high school, I left for college as fast as possible and only returned for summers and school breaks. I didn't keep in touch with anybody from school except for the people who went to the same college. The 800 miles of distance was far enough from both my parents and the north suburban Chicago towns where I grew up. It was my choice and I was very happy with it.
When I moved back to Chicago after six years in Oklahoma...yeah six, I moved into the city and only hit the burbs to visit family. I made some new friends and they didn't include anyone from the grammar/high school years. Again my choice and again I was happy with it.
Ten years after high school there was a reunion. No interest. Twenty years after high school there was another one. I was in California with very young children. No interest. Now it starts to get interesting.
Thirty years after high school there's another one. I'm curious. It's just one night, right? I find a few people I forgot about that I liked back in the day. It's a nice night. Some interesting chats and re-connections. Plus I did get to make fun of the people who were on the dance floor.
'When did this turn into a fucking bar mitzvah?"
Ten years later I was on the dance floor. What the Hell happened?
Social media is what happened. My Space, Classmates, Facebook....OMFG FACEBOOK!
I signed up with Facebook to spy on my children. I wasn't the only one. The next thing I knew, I was talking with people from my past. People I hadn't chatted with in almost 40 years. People I hadn't thought of in almost 40 years. It wasn't so bad. In fact it was pretty great. Surprise!
My brother asked me why I was talking with people I worked so hard to avoid. I told him I had mellowed. I wasn't mad at anyone anymore. I wasn't 15 years old anymore. Neither was anyone else. They mellowed, too. Everyone was on equal footing.
Cheerleaders aren't cheering anymore...at least not in a uniform. Football players aren't playing football anymore. Math & science geeks are still a little geeky but that's cool. That's how we have Facebook and social media.
The real attraction is the old memories....the old stories. Sports, music, dances, first kisses, first romances, FOURTH GRADE. Oh yeah....fourth grade!!! My favorite school year. I can look at a 4th grade picture and tell you what half those folks are doing. Some of my favorite people and best memories are from that class. I love that I'm in touch with them and see them. Now if we can only find Miss Polansky.
One of my school groups had their annual reunion this weekend...yeah they meet yearly. Four events over four days. Lots of food, drinks and chat. Hanging out with people you know well and becoming good friends with people you didn't know back in the day.
For the most part it flows easily and why shouldn't it? In your 60's, you have the commonalities of your youth and we share a lot of the same adult stories. Marriages, divorces, children, grandchildren, death of parents, aging parents. To quote Led Zeppelin from back in our school days "Good Times, Bad Times...you know we've had our share."
Another reunion weekend has come and gone. It was great to see the people from our salad days. It's sad to remember the ones who are no longer with us. But it's time to get back to real life. Sigh...real life. See ya'll next year. Damn...I guess I really am a reunion guy.
Sam Weber: Hey, Nick? You know, we go back a long way, and I'm not gonna piss that away 'cause you're higher than a kite.
Nick: Wrong, a long time ago we knew each other for a short period of time; you don't know anything about me. It was easy back then. No one had a cushier berth than we did. It's not surprising our friendship could survive that. It's only out there in the real world that it gets tough.
Type your email address in the box and click the "create subscription" button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.