Why I enjoyed my 10 year high school reunion

High School---ugh! All the labels that existed. What kind of box were you put in then? Jock, nerd, geek, fake, class favorite, pill head, rich, redneck, prep,pot smoker, goodie, best dressed, intellectual, and I could go on. I think no matter where you went to high school, there were these "clicks" that gathered together and didn't really dare to venture out or accept those that weren't almost clones of themselves. I can't say I was any different, but I don't remember being cruel about it. And lets just face it. People are typically more comfy around people like themselves-common sense-right? In high school I was a basketball and softball player, cheerleader, made good grades, dated a few hotties and a few not reallies. I went to church and youth and don't remember doing without. My freshman year I started my day early to roll my hair and pick out just the right outfit for that day and was sort of a goodie two shoes-or just way innocent as I like to say. By senior year I slept in as late as possible and maybe dried my hair and my outfit was umbros and tees or jeans and whatever was semi clean--I was so ready to get the hell out of "vegas". I wasn't exactly in a set "click" of friends but kind of visited several circles. I don't know...those of you who went to high school with me may remember it differently. I am not sure exactly what my "label" was and it isn't important for this mini-novel.
I was talking to my brother today about my 10 year class reunion and how it was just so very different than how I had always pictured it. Truthfully at first I really wasn't sure I wanted to go. I had experienced high school, had a good time and all, but I had also left it and changed a lot inside and wasn't just thrilled to revisit it. I was in the midst of my nursing travels and wasn't sure where I would even be living and didn't really want to "waste" a plane fare for a trip home for everyone to talk about weight I've gained since and ponder behind my back about why I wasn't married yet and listen to people talk incessantly and over exaggerating about their smart kids and wonderful /wives/husbands. No offense anyone, but I just didn't relate since I've not experienced the latter. And then my close friendships were with people who were a lot like me-sewing their oats and enjoying the adventures of free living, incessantly planning our next trip or outing. I'd had trouble relating to old high school friends in the past for this very reason: we just don't have much in common anymore and I just end up listening and not talking about my life because they usually don't know what questions to ask so they don't, and I always feel like I am bragging or something if I offer info about what I've been up to, but maybe I will save that subject for a future blog.With that being said, I mentioned the upcoming reunion to some of my current friends and they all gushed about how much they enjoyed theirs and that I absolutely must go. So my decision was made when I knew my assignment during that time would be in New Orleans and I could just drive home and of course I was curious to see who showed up and who had gained weight and gotten skinny and looked old and what their wives/husbands were like and wonder what was wrong with the people who weren't married-haha. But really it wasn't even like that.
OK so an old friend got in touch with me and wanted us to go together. I'll call her Diane. Diane had kept in touch with a guy friend I will call Mel who I had not really been friends with in high school. Not that we were enemies, we just never really at the same place with the same people kind of thing. Mel was single and had since settled in a huge city up north and basically had not really kept in touch with anyone else from high school either. So Diane and I have him go with us as well plus another person who Diane kept in touch with. OK cool so I don't have to show up by myself.
************************************************************** Of note I am from a pretty small town in Northeast Alabama, last I checked it was around 15 thousand people and we only had one high school. My graduating class had, I believe, 204 people. So everyone pretty much knows everyone and your mama and all your business. If they don't really know all your business they will act like they do and tell everyone about it. You know--stereotypical small town stuff. Also being a small southern town, football is huge and watching high school football was the place to be on Friday nights at Trammel Stadium. So fittingly we have our class reunions on homecoming weekend-a major holiday in my town. It is a BIG deal OK. ************************************8********************
So I drive home for the reunion. Friday afternoon the town shuts down early and kids get out of school around noon to watch the Homecoming parade. If you are part of a reunion you get to be in the parade with your fellow classmates and ride on big bails of hay on the back of a long flat bed truck and pelt people with candy as you ride by. (yes--BIG BAILS OF HAY) I hadn't given it too much positive thought in the months preceding this weekend, but I found myself ecstatic to see the familiar faces from my past. We met at the truck and everyone was talking and I felt like I just didn't have enough time to talk to everyone I needed to and I NEEDED to talk with everyone at that very moment. I would talk for a second and then see someone else I needed to run over to a scream and hug to death.. (I know--pretty funny for those of you who know me now) All of a sudden my good old friend I used to play softball with as a kid and always adored her rowdy/rule-breaking self growing up shouts,"Damn Katie! Jump on here already! What are you trying to do, be a politician? We got all weekend, SHIT!" I look over and see the truck is moving forward so for split flashback second I looked around to be sure no teachers or adults heard her cuss, then reminded myself we couldn't really get in trouble for that anymore so I jump onto a spot on some hay and we were off. I thought to myself, "Oh my Lord Katie we are already having so much fun and it hasn't even been 20 minutes! I can't believe you weren't going to come". Now believe it or not for you who didn't know me then, but I was a cheerleader in 6th through 10th grades. (And by the way-not your normal cheerleader because at my school we were really good and went to National Competition every year) But my point is that we always rode in the parades and did those annoying little chants. Well......I forgot how much I loved the parades! Not the chanting parts but the looking at people as you pass by thing. See, back then it was a requirement to pick out every single person you know and make a fool of yourself getting their attention just so y'all can simply wave at each other like you haven't seen them in 100 years even when you just saw them in homeroom that morning....and everyday prior to that. Plus remember I said you basically know almost everyone, so you can understand just how exhausting this can be for a girl. Well, years later here I was (secretly) trying my hardest to pick out every familiar face I knew and well, you already know the rest. I ran out of candy early and had to resort to snatching more from various classmates. I might could have left after that parade and it be enough joy to last me until next reunion, but I had yet to talk to everyone enough and find out how great their lives were. (sincerely)
That night was of course the football game so groups of us met before going into the stadium. I still drank then so we all drank a few beers and smoked a few cigs. A high school post cheer leading tradition. I thought this part was fun because obviously I was not in New Orleans anymore and you could get in trouble for open container only post high school they'd probably do more than tell my parents. So I felt that same old thrill as we snuck sips while making sure the coast was clear. I got to see more people I hadn't either seen or been able to talk to during parade time. We hit the stadium and blabbered on and met some off springs and marveled at the likes they shared with their parents. Lots of us left after the Homecoming queen was crowned and the halftime show was performed by the bands. We all agreed the talent pool had dwindled since our days of our totally righteous band and dance team paired with OUR dancing drum major. From there it was to the local bar and grill for some honky tonk live music and mixing and mingling with each other and the other classes' reunion people. We joked a lot, drank a lot and traded stories of some of the crazy happenings from 10 to 20 years ago. I was surprised at how easily I had seemed to forget how much I enjoyed these people I grew up with. I distinctly remembered looking around and seeing that there were not any of the old high school clickiness going on. I mean there were a few who drifted back in to the old habit of only talking with their "chosen few" but that was OK--guess they were just more comfortable that way or had been out of touch and had more to catch up on. And I'd heard that a click or two were gathering at someones house, cabin, or something even though for the most part they all still lived around and hung out with each other. And that was OK too, though I felt they were missing out. But it was cool to sit back a second and watch the greetings of old friends and people who were maybe not such good friends back then, but excited now to see each other anyways. Friday night I got a ride home with an old classmate and her husband. I caught myself remembering the tiffs we had when I dated her ex-boyfriend in 11th grade.(OK I know friends' exes are always off limits so I must let you know it wasn't like we were GOOD friends then, just knew each other and didn't really hang out in the same circles) I remembered just how big of a deal our little extended tiff was then and the ensuing words and talking behind each other's backs and all that that goes a long with high school. But here we were, sharing info about that night and our lives with a mutual respect and excitement for each other just like who'd a thought it.
SO there was a picnic Saturday afternoon which I skipped so I could hang with my fam and would be rested enough to stay out late again that night. Diane, Mel and the other chick and I went to my Dad's girlfriend's house for drinks and his famous yummy steaks before showing up fashionably late to the shin-dig held for just our class at a local golf course clubhouse. Mel was talking over dinner about how glad he was that he got talked into flying in for this reunion weekend. He shared some of his thoughts on his high school experience such as the never-ending torture of bullies and struggling with trying to be cool and even gave examples of some hurtful things people had done or said to him. I was surprised by the whos and whats and wondered out loud why I never concerned myself with such. But at that moment I realized that it was because I had my own trials and tribulations to deal with then and as most teens tend to be pretty self centered, I am sure I was no exception and I had my own worries though most of mine were totally petty. Like I worried whether or not I had teased my bangs high enough or put a sufficient amount of hairspray in them. My point is I didn't pay enough attention to things that didn't concern me or the latest gossip, or I wasn't secure enough to stick up for people and try to put a stop to other's cruelties. I can assure you times have changed and I am a real bitch these days. Of course maybe some thought I was then too, OK I am blabbering. Mel was also now openly gay which immediately explained to me some of what he must have been up against within himself and his plight to feel accepted back then. He also said it was very therapeutic for him to revisit his high school years and the people who were so cruel were now so friendly to him and he was pleasantly surprised and thankful for the confidence he now carried himself with. (You go Mel!)
So back to the fashionably late part....We showed up as people were finishing dinner and we caught up more with folks and had a DJ inside and the beer outside. They showed the old slide show that was seen during our Senior Memory Day and it brought back lots of memories and chuckles. I tried to speak to all, but sometimes it was kind of awkward, like I didn't want to interrupt another's conversation, or I would have been horrified to not be able to recall a name, ,or talk about an event from way back when only to find that person wasn't even there for it or something. My favorite reunion was a guy I didn't recognize at first in the dim lights outside and to be honest had not thought about much since leaving the hallowed halls of SHS. He walked up to me to say hi and tell me what he'd been up to since high school. Once I recognized him I was shocked that he was so tall. He'd always been short and quiet in high school. He'd also been my little boyfriend in 2cd grade who'd given me a glittery Michael Jackson's glove pendant on a necklace. And now he was a confident, tall guy who bragged about his life the children he is raising on his own. He seemed so comfy in his own skin and had really made a good life for himself that he was so sincerely proud of. We prob only talked for 20 minutes or so and he said he was going home to relieve his babysitter. He told me he'd hoped to see me at the reunion and thanked me for being kind to him in school. (?---I had no idea--?) Cool.
So after the bartender people ran out of beer for the 3rd time (they claimed they never ran out at any other reunion and that our class was some wild and crazy people.....duh), we moved the party back to the bar and grill and talked and laughed more. We closed that down, got shooed out of the parking lot and it was off to someones cabin on the lake. (at least I think it was on a lake). Anyways keep in mind the partyers are dropping as the night drones on. So it was funny when someone pointed out at the cabin that we all didn't exactly run around together back in high school. Which almost brings me to my point...(finally--right?)
To end this I have to tell you about this guy I'll call Carl. Carl is brilliant, but never liked to apply himself to the books in high school. He seemed air headed at times and definitely walked to the beat of a different drum. Once in English class he passed around a poem and if you read it several times and deciphered some its words and phrases, you got that it was an invitation to sit naked around a campfire at midnight one weekend night on a certain island and read poetry. That's just one example of his crazy ideas which by the way did happen because Diane and I and 2 others rowed a boat to that island in the lake just a piece from what we always called "Midget Mountain" to find naked people, a camp fire and books of poetry. They let us visit briefly but Carl said we had to go if we weren't shedding the clothes so off we rowed.
So. I ended my class reunion weekend at about 4:30 that Sunday morning riding on the back of Carl's motorcycle-(I was wearing the helmet as he only had one) as he drove 20 MPH all the way down one of the 2 main roads in my hometown and I am hysterical-giggling and screaming for him to speed up or we'll get thrown in jail for sure. No hooking up OF COURSE. Just two very different people who basically only had in common was the fact that we grew up in the same town, in the same grade but enjoyed each other all the same.
I once met another nurse on assignment while I was in San Francisco who was born and raised in New York City-or Manhattan as they call it. She told me that all her friends were very different in culture, race, background, and socio-economic status and she wouldn't have it any other way because it keeps her mind open and her life full of color. And I keep this beautiful idea with me. I tried to apply my high school reunion experience to this only on a smaller scale. I mean obviously being a small southern town you only get exposed to so much cultural and racial diversity. Though I didn't do it purposefully, some of my thoughts and ideas, and beliefs bordered on very narrow minded in high school because I didn't know any better-I had never been exposed. It wasn't until I started in my path of discovering other "worlds" with new experiences and making my own choices upon leaving high school and thereafter did I truly and FULLY appreciate people's differences. The reunion was not just a return to gather with the people I grew up with, but refreshing in the sense that what I saw were people who had at some point in time stepped out of the box/stereotypes of who we were supposed to be in high school. I thought we truly enjoyed each other. I don't recall any petty "high school shit". Of course this time around I wasn't looking for that either. And this is why I enjoyed my 10 year class reunion. Rock on class of 94! We all turned out pretty damn awesome! (I can't wait for the next parade!!)
So go to your class reunions people. And please share your experiences with me if anybody reads these things.