Back in Time
This weekend was my 30th (gasp) high school reunion. My very best friend and I decided that we should go, mainly because we had heard that a few members of our class were actually flying across the country for the event. All we had to do was hop in the car. We started off our visit by flipping through old yearbooks to familiarize ourselves with names and faces. It was partly a walk down memory lane, partly a wait, who is THAT? and partly the sad remembrance of a few classmates who are no longer with us. Then it was time to meet up with friends of old, and muster up enough courage to walk into a room full of people we hadn’t seen or talked to in literally decades.
High school is an interesting time in our lives. Some would use a stronger word than that; it can be downright miserable. You are inevitably defined by the sports you play, the activities you’re involved in, what you look like, and who you hang out with. One day you feel like you’re on top of the world, and the next you would rather crawl into a hole then have to endure one more day as a teenager in high school. Things are continually changing- the way you look, the way you feel, and the way people feel about you. Perhaps that’s the worst thing about high school. We are constantly judging each other, and compromising our morals and values while jockeying for popularity, acceptance and approval.
If you’re lucky enough to go to a reunion, you might have the same epiphany that I did. You may realize that your old classmates, your friends, your enemies, and everything in between, are all individuals on the same journey. We are all searching for happiness and contentment, all while trying to avoid the many pitfalls and roadblocks of life. We no longer bear the labels given to us by the immature teenage mind, but instead we are looked at through compassionate eyes of those who have experienced joy and tragedy, love and loss, birth and death, success and failure.
It may be the reason reunions exist- so we can shed all of those perceptions we used to carry around and finally get to know the people with whom we spent those four fateful years. If I hadn’t gone to the reunion, I would not have reconnected with a Hollywood DJ, a graphic designer, a lobbyist, a web developer and an environmental scientist. What a sharp, diverse and driven group of people. The reunion far exceeded my expectations, and it’s one I will look back on and remember fondly.
For me though, the true highlight of the weekend was getting to know my two youngest fans, Emma and Lilly. They are my best friend’s daughters, and signed up for this blog almost immediately after I started writing it. Hopefully they will read this and gain a little insight into surviving those challenging years that will no doubt shape them into strong, confident, and successful women, just like their mom.
