Fifteen Years
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Tomorrow night we will gather at the wonderful school that in so many ways made us who we are. We will fumble through hellos awkward and artificial and authentic. We will fidget in corners and look around, glimpsing faces both familiar and foreign. We will clutch sweating glasses and bemused spouses, reminiscing and remembering. Remembering who we were fifteen years ago when we were less wrinkled and worried and worldly.
Fifteen years ago. When we donned caps and gowns and bright teenage smiles. When college, that exquisite wonderland, loomed large on the landscape of our collective cosmos. Much has happened in all these years. Parents have been lost. Commitments have been made and marred. Babies have been born. We will talk about these things, I imagine. Or maybe we won’t. Maybe we will just dance around the big things and take refuge in small talk. I hope not though. I hope that amid the inevitable air kisses and the swirl of superficiality, there will be some real sentences bartered, some real heart displayed, some true memories unearthed. We will see.
Fifteen years. What a long, short time it’s been.
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Any advice for me as I head to my fifteen year high school reunion? Do you think it makes sense that I am at once anxious and invigorated to see so many people from my past? Do you enjoy attending reunions? Do you ever hope that real conversations will manifest in situations that are particularly prime for idle chat?
Have fun! Fortunately, I’ll have FB updates to keep me abreast here in sunny SoCal.
Though I enjoy them, reunions are by definition superficial. Re-unions. Not unions. It takes work and commitment to friendship over time to talk about the real stuff.
(note: ignore the previous sentiment if it is after midnight and enough alcohol has been consumed.)
I certainly had that combination of anxiety and excitement when I went to mine (it was actually my 14th – my school was so small that they just have all school reunions once in a while). I did have fun, though. Some of the meetings were awkward, and some of them were great. I hope you have a great time!
I am on the planning committee for my 25th later this summer. Above all be yourself. Share what you love. Be open to how others have changed. Have fun! Enjoy the day!
Erin
Most of all enjoy the event. Sometimes these things can be stressful, because we are all now different people, many life changes have happened. I believe that you should allow to it to reflect your past, present, and the things not yet discovered for the future.
Have a great time!
Love Reunions! I’m not sure why. . . I’m still in good contact with those I truly care about, so it’s funny how much I enjoy seeing all the others. Maybe it’s that my high school drew from such varied socio-economic areas that there were plenty of people for whom I just didn’t know how real life would go. Now, to see them cleaned up for a gathering as well as cleaned up handling adult responsibilities respectfully, it just makes me happy. I always feel a camaraderie and gratitude regarding the roles we have in creating our larger community now at my reunions. I’ll stop now. . . but have fun:)
I skipped my 20th but I think that I might hit 25. I kept in touch with most people that I really wanted to and Facebook put me in touch with the few that fell through the cracks.
But I think that it might be fun to have some face to face time with the others.
So much happens- you never know who you’ll see and what sort of connections you might make. Have fun.
I keep forgetting how young you are… ENJOY!!! And, relish in the personal and professional success you’ve accomplished in such a short time. (((hugs)))
ahhh, that’s fantastic- isn’t it insane how quickly tim flies, really?
I love the questions you ask, Aidan. I’ve never attended a school reunion. I have reconnected with old friends after years apart, including having dinner with a close friend I hadn’t seen since age 13 (and hadn’t corresponded with since 15 or 16). I’m 29. I found it was as if no time had passed. She was close to being a surgeon in Thailand, me, on my way to grad school after a few years of paralegal-ing. There was something really comforting about making time for each other after so much time had passed. Reminded me of simpler times when she and I would engage in random creative writing projects together as sixth-graders.
Also, this is off-topic, but I’m curious if you’ve seen the Ralph Waldo Emerson writing project going on at http://ralphwaldoemerson.me/
I’m not in any way affiliated with the site (though I am participating on my blog). Just thought that some of their philosophical prompts were right up your alley.