Monday, September 28, 2009

Montague Class of 1989 -- 20 year reunion

So I understand that individual experiences might vary, but I’m gonna give you my take on our twenty year, high-school reunion:

For starters, there were some dudes I was hoping to see there that couldn’t make it. You dudes know who you dudes are. Anyway, knowing they weren’t going to be there, I was kind of disappointed. I told Cindy, “Yeah, you know, maybe we won’t hang around that long. Maybe we’ll pick up the kids early and go home and watch a movie or something.”

Then BAM! Seven hours passed in a heartbeat.

I don’t know about anybody else, but I think that our reunion could’ve lasted seventy hours and none of would have even felt remotely “caught up”. Something kind of weird happened at the Chamber Bar this last Saturday night, and I don’t think I was the only one who noticed. Because I had a bunch of conversations that went something like this:

“Isn’t this weird?”

“Yeah – weird.”

“It’s great though.”

“Yeah, great.”

“But weird.”

So later on, I really had to get that sucker figured out (‘later on’ being later that night while I was laying awake until 5 AM because of the thirty-two cups of coffee I drank at the reunion (but Cindy had fun)). Point is: I think I finally figured out what we were trying to express.

Bottom line: we’re pushing forty. Pushing it hard. Most of us have jobs and kids and mortgages, and for the past twenty years, these things have occupied our full attention. Meanwhile, the things we cared about for the first twenty years of our lives have almost completely faded. Like the people we shared those years with – the kids we grew up with. So on Saturday night, even though we were all strangers in a sense, from different towns and states and different walks of life, just for that one night, we kind of magically reconnected with that first half of our lives. Leprechauns and faeries sprinkled glittery sparkles all through the air, and we all de-aged twenty years. We became those same high-schoolers again, far removed from our jobs and kids and mortgages, just together in one place, enjoying one another’s company like a big, sweet mug of gut-warming hot chocolate.

Which is a goofy and gay way of saying it, but that’s kind of what it was like – hot chocolate. You couldn’t call it pickle juice or anything because I never really noticed anybody sitting shunned in the corner. So yeah… goofy or not, hopefully… it was hot chocolate all around.

And that’s my take.

Any other 89’s out there want to add anything?

18 comments:

Anita said...

I just had my 20th and I know exactly what you're talking about. There were people at the reunion I could've spent hours talking to and I got like 5 minutes. After it was over I was thinking, "What the hell just happened?" And not only about the reunion, but the last 20 years, too.

J.R. Johansson said...

I'm oddly looking forward to my next reunion now thanks to you.

What have you done?

;)

Anonymous said...

I think I graduated Kindergarten in '89.

Anonymous said...

This was a lovely post. I look back at my growing-up friends, and we're so incredibly diverse, but we're all united just by being children together. It's a privilege, really.

-Mercedes

Kelly Polark said...

I'm an 89er too! You put the feelings of the twenty reunion so well. I just celebrated mine in August. And the weekend flew (like Anita said, so did the last 20 years). Everyone seemed genuinely interested in talking with everyone. Everyone was so kind. There were no cliques. There were no people reverting back to any "high school" immaturity. (Unless you count that I drank a little more alcohol than usual, and I rarely drink any anymore! Oh, and the wife of my exboyfriend made him leave because he took a picture with me....and I even asked her permission and she said Sure! And not to mention I've been with my husband for 17 yrs! So yes, that seemed a little high school) But other than that, seriously some good times with my best friends and old friends.
Did your wife go to the same hs as you? My hubby did, but was a year ahead. He had as much fun as I did!

Vikki said...

I'm a '91 and my 20 year is coming up. The way you've described it is exactly the way I imagine it being. Plus, I was SUCH a weirdo in high school, I'm looking forward to showing everyone I turned out normal.

What? I'm normal! Sort of.

Keri Mikulski said...

What a wonderful post.. Glad you had a great time. :)

cindy said...

i had a great time! i just love to be with you ray! you looked hot! and thanks for drinking coffee, baby. :)

Melissa Pierson Kearis said...

Wow you said it!! I still am driving around expecting to see those so important people from the first 20 years of my life. The feelings don't go away. I keep replaying memories from Saturday night, from high school, from junior high! I am still in reality of my day to day life but you put it perfectly... I would rather be in that cup of hot chocolate floating with my marshmallow friends!

Paul Michael Murphy said...

Good of you to go. I don't understand the people that refuse to attend. I've gone to all my reunions and had a good time.

As for things that were important to me twenty years ago, I still walk down the action figure aisle and check out the Star Wars guys. And I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I first saw the GI Joe movie trailer.

Ray Veen said...

Anita -- Exactly. My phone said it was 1:30 AM, and I didn't believe it. I had to ask someone to make sure it wasn't broken.

Jenn -- Is it your five year?

Ben -- Nice. So they should be having your kindergarten reunion this year?

Mercedes -- Well said. It is totally a privilage.

Kelly -- That ex-boyfriend story is crazy. And my wife went to a different high school. She met all these folks for the first time that night, but she's one of those people that you can sense how great and how much fun they are the instant you meet them. So yeah, like your husband, she made friends and had as much fun as I did.

Vivi -- What are you talking about? You're perfectly normal. Bryan Bliss totally deserves that punch to the face you're planning.

Keri -- Thanks. You too. (that doesn't make sense in the context of your comment, I know, but you're a cool lady, and I felt you deserved more response than just, "thanks")

Cindy -- You looked hot too. Too bad all that heavy drinking made you sleepy.

Melissa -- You're right, the memory-replayer thing -- I totally should've written about that. Thanks for bringing it up.

Paul -- So my only son is almost fourteen, and I can't go down the action figure aisle anymore because he's kind of through with toys. It completely sucks. (wait -- don't you have just one daughter?)

J.R. Johansson said...

Ray - LOL! No, my 10 year was a year or two ago... guess the next is 15 or 20 if there isn't a 15. But thanks for the compliment.

VeeFlower said...

This entry put tears in my eyes. I never attended a high school reunion but I did reconnect with 3 sisters who were my bff's in middle school, jr, and high school after over 30 years of being separated. I can tell you that those years just roll away, and a big important part of myself I thought I lost forever came flooding back. It sure feels good.

Ray Veen said...

Mom -- I totally related to the phrase "a big important part of myself I thought I lost forever came flooding back".

I wish I'd said something like that in my post. Would it be weird to go back and edit it at this point?

Patti said...

I graduated with a class of 350 so the chances of me actually knowing somebody at the reunion were slim, so I didn't go. Now I wish maybe I would have given it a shot. This coming from and 88er.

VeeFlower said...

Ray, you did say that in your post. You just said it in a different way.

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