the ten year reunion

so, I'm not a super nostalgic person. but i have no regrets about my educational experience and wanted to take part in the formal ritual that is 'the ten year reunion' event. now i am reflecting on that rite-of-passage which has officially been checked off of the list.

lets not kid ourselves - these things are a bizarre cocktail. it's two parts awkward, one part fun, and a twist of 'who the hell are those three dudes??'

So when you arrive, you can't claim, "i don't know you" or do the weird 'glance away' thing... because clearly, everyone did infact go to school together. you have to talk. that's why you came to the event after all. but somehow the same little groups of people still manage to segment off. the weird girls are still misunderstood. the basketball players all manage to sit at the same table. some people look better or the same; some people look, well, like ten years has passed. there are individuals you talk to and think, 'hey, it would have been cool to have been friends in high school. how come we weren't friends?' but you don't ask those questions. instead you ask the questions that no one wants to ask or answer. 'where are you now? and what do you DO? and how's so-and-so?'

it's an interesting look at 'what matters' in life. and how to extend grace. you worry about it, want to look your best, and then - hopefully - laugh at the process. my mother-in-law and I talked about it beforehand, and she had a profound perspective to offer. I'm not sure she even thought about how much I examined her sentiments, but i did. She said, "You know, everyone there is figuring themselves out still... much more than they imagined they'd be figuring themselves out ten years later. But just have fun with it!" And I did. From the moment Will and I went to pick up my friend Trish, to the moment we had to leave because he was having a food allergy reaction, I really enjoyed the whole experience.

when we looked at the schedule: dinner, comedians, DJ - we thought, 'okay - so if it gets TOO bizarre at least there is 'stuff' to make us avoid talking to each other.' But at the end of the night, I think most people thought that the food wasn't the best, the comedians were crass, and the DJ was too loud. The only thing that people seemed to want more of was actual conversation. Hearing from these people who had a shared experience, but who had all gone in very different directions from that central point that was Riverside High School. It was really cool to see that we still identify with one another despite our differences. That most people really did let their guard down and engage with former classmates in a way that was far less superficial than I had expected. Everyone seemed to be okay with the 'figuring it all out' stage of life. And that's pretty good for twenty-eight years old. And those "three dudes" i didn't recognize? Yeah, they were the comedians.

We had to leave when Will's throat started closing due to the sesame seeds ingested. I'd much rather have a living, breathing husband than nostalgia. He was the most handsome one in the room, too. (Superficial gold star for me.)