In preparation for my big high school reunion trip (as usual whenever I travel) I packed half my closet. Well, not quite half but certainly eight pairs of shoes. And if you don’t believe me, ask my husband who, after over 50 years of marriage, no longer shakes his head in disbelief. He does, however, hold his back when picking up the suitcase which causes him great grief.
I wanted to be certain I was dressed just right from head to toe. But, now, really…who looks at people’s feet at a high school reunion? Putting our best feet forward, my BFF and I stepped into the rather stark room reserved for the gathering. We immediately recognized the two ladies at the sign-in desk who handed us our name tags. Actually, the tags were blank but Jane filled ours out with first and maiden names. No sense putting married names on them since it was hard enough identifying folks as it was. I mean, 55 years is a looooong time! You didn’t hear people saying, “Oh, you haven’t changed a bit since high school.” Or, “You look just the same.” They’d have to be proficient liars or else incredibly drunk. Speaking of drunks, there weren’t any. There was a cash bar but it didn’t do much business. I’m assuming that was because it was cost prohibitive and/or people my age have to be careful not to fall down and break a hip. Alcohol tends to contribute to that possibility.
There were non-alcoholic drinks and a wonderful buffet included in the mere $45 per person we paid. I must admit that I went back to the food table for a second helping of just about everything. I’d starved myself for three months before the date hoping my outfit would fit me just great. (While in STL I also visited with some old friends I hadn’t seen in quite a long while. This meant the zipper in my jeans needed some breathing room as well.) The garb for the event was mostly slacks and fancy blouses for the ladies and casual shirts for the mere half dozen men.
One of the things that struck me was the number of empty tables. From our original senior class of 974, less than 50 warm bodies made an appearance. The list of old souls who didn’t was scary. And it wasn’t uncommon to have a conversation only to hear that SO-AND-SO had passed away as recently as last year. Sigh!
I noticed my BFF making all these strangers grin but then Jane would ask a wooden Indian how the heck he’d been. Meanwhile my own chats were much more of a serious tone centering around the number and outcome of joint replacement bones. (Grandchildren were, of course, still the paramount topic as you might expect.)
Discovering that I hardly recognized anyone in attendance was disheartening. So I chitchatted briefly with those that I recalled and then sat at a table with those I didn’t know at all. I came away with a whole new perspective: these delightful individuals showed genuine interest in me and I in them. So here they were my new found friends. I wished I’d known them in the past. But it was nice to finally meet these “kids” from my graduating class!
 GIF.gif)
