Holy blink of an eye. My 50th high school reunion starts today. The opening night reception will be at a restaurant/bar owned by a classmate's family.
I'm excited and a little nervous about this event. My family moved to Kettering from Springfield, Ohio (a 45 minute drive) during my junior year in high school. I was new to this big Kettering school - 650 people in this class - and I missed my friends in Springfield. I made friends at my new school but I also spent a lot of weekends with friends at my old school. I was in a no man's land...didn't belong here and didn't belong there. College was 1 1/2 years away.
Over the years of living here, I have connected with high school acquaintances so I won't be walking into a room full of strangers. For me, these are present connections but my friends have long-time connections from living here for all of their lives. Six of us are going to sit together at the dinner at the country club...we made these plans a few months ago. That's a relief. I remember those first few days sitting in the lunch room by myself, surrounded by a noisy mass of humanity. I have my people now!
But still...50 years.
What was fun is that my kids attended my high school. Kettering used to have two high schools but with declining enrollment numbers the schools consolidated into one building in 1983. A new wing was added to accommodate more classrooms (freshmen were included in the student population), a new gymnasium was built to take the place of the old gym with the wooden bleachers on both sides, but the basic layout of the school was the same from my time there. When it was time to pick up their freshman schedules, each child was nervous about being the newbie in a new place with 1600 students. I walked them through their schedules until they felt comfortable, telling them stories of my high school days (daze?). And walking through the halls brought back memories that hadn't come to mind for so many years. I even found my old locker!
Cheers to 50 years!
My sisters 50th is this year, mine in a couple more. Time flies when we are having fun. Enjoy the weekend.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have a fun evening ahead of you. I remember when I went to my 50th reunion back in Quincy Illinois. I hadn't kept up with anyone from my class and I was so far away I hadn't attended any previous reunions. When I walked in the room, I turned around and went back out to make sure I was in the right place. I hadn't expected to see all those "old" people. I'll never forget that feeling or was a realization.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your evening.
I have only been to my 10th high school reunion and it was disappointing. Never went to another one. Just passed my 67th and I'm not sure they're even having them anymore. Not many of my graduating class of 40 left.
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