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Health & Fitness

The High School Reunion

recap of my 35th high school reunion

About two months ago I got a Facebook message saying that one of my high school classmates was going to organize a 35th high school reunion over Thanksgiving weekend. I had previously attended each of the five year cycle reunions in the past and was not quite sure how excited I would be to attend another so soon.

With social media, emails, and Facebook,  I now keep in touch with the friends I want to see on a regular basis. Checking the RSVP list on Facebook most of my friends would not be attending so did I need to attend this evening with many people I never spoke to in high school?

In high school, I was very quiet and reserved. I guess you would say I was not as my kids now classify their peers "one of the popular kids." Initially my gut feeling was to skip this one, as it would make the 40th that much more special.

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Then about three weeks ago I learned that a very good high school friend who I had not seen since graduating college was planning to attend. Although I keep in touch with her periodically through her parents who live nearby I was very excited at the prospect of seeing her.

I decided I would sign up. Then I learned a few of my other friends would be attending.

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Thanksgiving weekend rolled in quickly and it was time to head over to the 7:00 p.m. reunion at the Newton Marriot. What do I wear?  How would I be perceived now after all these years as "the popular kids" were the ones who had RSVP’d on Facebook?

Feeling good about myself and having exercised more in the past year than in all my years of school combined I decided to go with the tight skirt and low plunged neckline top. I wanted to look my best and share how much beyond high school I am now. After all high school was 35 years ago.

I walked into the room at the reunion and was quickly greeted by many familiar faces. My confidence and excitement of seeing my high school peers put me at ease quickly. It was wonderful to learn about the classmates who did come, see how much they had changed and reminisce about our high school days.

In a corner of the room, sadly was a slide show of classmates who were no longer with us, followed by a slideshow showing the remainder of our class now, side by side with a high school photo. For the most part all the women looked great!! The high school heartthrobs no longer had any reason to be impressed with themselves and the ones who were not noticed back then should have been.

I learned that close to a third of my class are divorced and many were not as rich and famous as they perceived themselves to be in high school. Then there were the more grounded ones like me who are now fortunate to have stable homes and families. It felt good to be in this group. A few classmates cornered me to share special memories that would have otherwise been buried forever.

I was happy to reconnect and perhaps now rekindle some old friendships long forgotten.

By the end of the night, even though a few were still in their little cliques of Newton South lore, for the most part everyone was on even keel. The reunion was a wonderful evening and as a result now plans for the 40th are underway with the proposal to make this a three day extended event.

Perhaps one night is enough every five years but I will decide as we get closer. In the meantime I have added a few new Facebook friends and contacts to hopefully see beforehand.

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