QMusings

Last weekend I went to my 25th high school reunion.

Now…I’m not really a reunion person. Well, I should clarify that I’m not a High School Reunion person. High school wasn’t the best time of my life.

Yeah it was during my “formative years” but what formed out of high school was a young woman with a nice GPA, little esteem and no clue about what she was going to do next.

This state lasted for a while. Except for maybe the GPA when I quit going to college. Now that I think about it again, GPAs stick with you for life. At least that’s how most people seem to look at them.

People will crow, “I was a straight A student all through college” or “Yeah, you’d never think a C student would become CEO…”

In case you’re wondering at what all I looked like 25 years ago, here’s me back when I was Miss Q:

I also went to my 5th high school reunion. Having a 5th seemed a bit bizarre but I went and it was mainly because I had felt I had changed (new! improved!) a bit since people had last seen me.

I skipped all the other reunions because the few people I’d really want to see again were not reunion types. Plus, I was out of town or had any number of excuses.

News of the 25th reunion comes up and this time around I though, well… a little revisiting of the past might not be a bad thing.

I show up in the little black dress I wore at a cousin’s wedding. I wasn’t sure what to wear and asked one of the reunion planners. I didn’t look out of place at all.

I get a nametag that includes my yearbook photo. Good idea. I see semi-familiar faces and most people seem relaxed and more than willing to laugh at not remembering anyone.

• One woman looked like she hadn’t aged. It was freaky. She was Indian with great bone structure.
• Most people looked like older versions of themselves.
• Some people gained weight.
• Some lost weight.
• One woman lost a LOT of weight.

One woman came up to me and said, “Do you remember me?”

When I said that no…she was vaguely familiar but no…I didn’t really recall her…

She then pointed to one of the group shots from the past and when I peered at it asked again, “Now do you remember me? I hung out with X and Y?”

She didn’t say X and Y but the photo I saw had a group of 3 women striking a feathered hair pose. Still no big AHA for me.

I said hi to one guy with a shaved head. He was very white with light coloring so I wasn’t sure if he had actually shaved his head or had gone through chemo. I recalled liking him. I told him so.

He said, “You liked me? Why?”

I said, “I dunno. I don’t even recall what classes we had together. I just have a good feeling about you and recall thinking you were a nice guy.”

He said, “Really? Huh. I was just thinking that if I had met myself - who I was back then - I would be thinking that I was a little sh*t.”

I said, “I don’t remember that. I just know that I felt warmly towards you.”

He said, “Good to know that I wasn’t all bad back then.”

He also told me that he had gone to the 20th and this reunion was nicer because it was more like a reunion where people caught up. The 20 was a big party with an open bar and everyone getting..happy.

I shared a table with some people I had hung out with. That was nice. They were nice folks then, are still nice folks. I didn’t know the guy who sat next to me so I asked, “Who are you now?” I thought it was a better question than, “What are you doing now?” and he seemed like someone I could ask.

He said, “I’m not so in my head anymore. I used to be so…in my head. I’ve been working on being more out of my head.”

I knew what he meant.

I danced. People had been drinking so the party mood increased as the night wore on.

As I was dancing, the woman who had hung out with X and Y spun around on the dance floor and when she spotted me, broke into a boozy smile and headed towards me. We all continued to dance and she thrust her head towards me to the beat of the music and asked, “SO DO YOU REMEMBER ME NOW??”

I had to tell her that I couldn’t.

The guy I was dancing with shrugged. He couldn’t recall her either.

What I liked was that the few people I really spoke with seemed genuinely happy and it was less about what they did but about who they were.

Except for the woman who kept asking, “Do you remember me NOW?”

The professional photographers at the reunion took the above photo.

I found it … freaky that the pose and hairstyle looked very similar to my yearbook photo. Those of you who’ve kept up with my blog know that I have had a different hairstyle since high school!

In case you are wondering, yes, I’ve always been quite…pale.

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Feathered hair.

Puffy off-the-shoulder prom dresses.

It was 1983 and my Senior Prom. As usual I wasn’t quite in step with fashion. I didn’t have feathered hair. I didn’t have a Big Dress.

Nope.

My hair was end-of-the-permanent-wave wavy. My dress was a silky dark violet sheath with spaghetti straps, vaguely Grecian in look.

My date was a junior in college. He wore a tuxedo. With tails. He carried a cane. He wore white gloves.

“What one thing is not like the others??”

Twenty-five years later and tonight I’ll be at my high school reunion.

The last one I went to was the fifth. I just flipped through my yearbook hoping to stimulate my memories.

I recognized faces but I didn’t have a lot of friends in high school. I was too shy and awkward and serious. High school was just something to get through.

I decided to go to the 25th partly out of curiosity and mostly because of the fact that it’s been 25 years. It seems the right time to revisit the past.

OK. There’s also the part that is wondering if people will even recall me. What with being shy and awkward and dorky. I wore parkas and Birkenstocks and no…these weren’t in style at the time.

I have changed quite a bit since then. I’m sure everyone else has.

Then…there’s the dancing!

I seldom go to big parties and I rarely dance. I love dancing! And there will be dancing.

And you know the music will be from the Eighties!

So it’s this Lady’s Night.

and..I’m Steppin’ Out

Innerestingly, my hair cut is vaguely reminiscent of my yearbook graduation photo.

Freaky.

Update: Currently playing Eighties music to get me in the mood. It’s funny to think of my high school days as an “era.”

The reason for all the “Kool & the Gang” videos is that a few of my high school dances had their song titles as a theme.  One I recall was titled “Too Hot.”

Despite my being dorky I did buy tickets to go to school dances held in the gymnasium.  My best friend at the time tried to teach me to dance and it was all I could do to rock from foot to foot, fuhgettabout any kinda turns or twirling.

I didn’t do feathered hair that well but I did use a curling iron.  Serious feathering attempts were made.

Ah, misty watered colored memories. Of the way I was.

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Life is full of simple pleasures.

Life is full of beauty.

Look around. There is joy and beauty to be found.

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