20th High School Reunion, aka: "Who Are All These Middle-Aged People and How Is It That I Am One of Them?"

My 20th high school reunion was a BLAST. Above is the attempt to take a group photo. Yes, I am in this photo! If you read my previous post on the topic, you can probably pick me out by my outfit.

As far as dress code, which was "business casual", anything went. Black and white was very popular. There was a ride range of attire, from cocktail dresses and suits to khakis and jeans. I wound up being right in the middle with my ensemble.

Surprisingly, my stomach was in knots walking in to the cocktail hour - I was frantically thinking: What if I'm overdressed? What if no one remembers me? What if no one wants to talk to me? Such thinking was silly of course, but that shows how much high school memories stay with you.

The turnout was good. For a class of 280, about 100 classmates showed up (170 total, including guests). Some had traveled to the East Coast from as far as Texas and California. I thought that either people either looked exactly the same, or so different that I had to look at their name button to figure out who they were. The name buttons, by the way, had our senior pictures on them. Mine senior picture was hideous, and I considered flipping the bird (but didn't) to anyone who said I looked exactly the same. I don't look the same at all.

I was able to pace myself drinking beer (Corona Light!) so that I did not get rip-roaring drunk, (as I was afraid I might as I hadn't drank in about a year due to pregnancy & nursing) however, I did not practice restraint when it came to the food. I had seconds on the fabulous dinner buffet, sent JV back to our room loaded with desserts to save for later (which we devoured), and my dear high school BFF (who had flown in for the reunion from the Midwest), sent her husband out to Chili's for some late night grub. He brought back almost everything on the menu, which we also devoured at 2am.

This reunion was more fun than our 10th. It seemed this time the cliques were really just about gone. (Although, sadly, I noticed some did still exist). At the 10th, many people were still single, or just married, no kids yet, and just establishing careers. This time around, most had married (some divorced or remarried), most had kids, and have had twists and turns in their careers and families, so there was much more to talk about. Corresponding on Facebook really helped break the ice; because of it I already knew many facts about people, which allowed me to start conversations easily and keep them going. I kept remembering: when in doubt, ask people about themselves or their families. Most people love to talk about themselves.

The night seemed to fly by - there were so many people I saw from afar and just didn't get a chance to talk with. Hopefully we'll have a 25th - in the meantime, I'll try to do my best to keep up with my classmates I did chat with. So, Class of '88, until the 25th, see you on Facebook!