So I am going to my 35th High School

[WCGreen]

I figure this one is important because I hear, after this, people start dropping like flies...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I've been to a couple of mine...

No more, though, now...

I was just as much a wallflower at these reunions as I was back in high school.

I hadn't heard the bit about folks dropping like flies after this interval...

I know you'll have fun, though!

[abq e streeter]

2. That's the only one I ever went to

and had a much better time than I thought I would. None of my small handful of close friends were there, but had great conversations with people that had been casual friends/classmates only. And some of the best were with people I basically had never really known back then; just knew who they were .It helped me finally get rid of a lot of pain and resentment from being such a misfit that I'd been carrying around for decades . Seeing and interacting with these people as mature, generally intelligent and nice adults was incredibly healing. That's just my experience, but I was genuinely disappointed that a work obligation made it impossible for me to attend the 40th.
I hope you have a great, or at least decent, time at yours. ( and as always, my best thoughts and wishes are with you regarding your health)

[murielm99]

23. That was pretty much the experience I had at my 25th.

Because it was a positive experience, I have attended all of them since then.

I reached out and had friendly conversations with a few people that I had overlooked or not known well in high school. There was no reason for me to ignore them at the time. They may have thought so, and carried around bad feelings towards me, or towards themselves because of that. It was amazing how friendly and grateful they were to be remembered. I was not the only one with hurt feelings or leftover resentments. It was indeed a healing experience. I have even renewed ties with a few old friends!

[tango-tee]

25. I organized our 30th reunion. Never will I be railroaded into such a venture again.

I was "Klassensprecher" of our class here in Germany... literally translated it means "class speaker", but I have no idea what that would be in America. It means you're participating in a sort of Punch and Judy game between students and teachers/principals. It really doesn't matter.

Collecting the addresses and contacting the classmates, finding out about the lives of other students I hadn't thought of in many years was fun.

But I never would have guessed that so many of our classmates might turn out to be such a pain in the ass. So full of themselves, so mind-numbingly boring and ignorant in their reactonary viewpoints. My girlfriend and I reserved a funky little pub with sixties music and snacks which was - according to some classmates - a total failure because (take your pick) it was too loud, too smoky, offered a menu which was completely fucked up for various health-related reasons, a light bulb in the toilet was burned out, it took five minutes in the drizzle to get to the parking area... and on and on and on.

I told my beloved classmates that I would be more than happy to organize ONE MORE reunion for each of them, individually - and that reunion would take place at the cemetery. No noise, no smoke, no strange foods clogging your sorry-assed arteries, MoFo. And no need to worry about the parking, you boring sack of shit. We'll be happy to carry you where you need to go. And if for once in your life you decide to be useful, we can throw your ashes on the sidewalk during a snowstorm to keep old ladies from falling.

[abq e streeter]

26. Wow-I'm seeing a lot of people here who had very negative experiences...guess I'm pretty lucky

although again, I only went to one...And glad to see that some, like Murielm99., also had a good experience ( and is apparently a fellow long-suffering Cub fan too) but I really was pleasantly surprised at how nice everyone was, and as I said, some of my most enjoyable conversations were with people with whom I bet I'd barely even met in those 4 years ( we had 5,000 kids at our school), and some equally pleasant talks with people who'd been casual friends at most. Not one person was stuck up or snooty or anything. And there was a band that was just thrown together from some alumni of the two classes ('67 and '68) performing on the first of the two nights and some of them were serious pros (for instance, the drummer had been with Ramsey Lewis for years ),but even though they did not know me as a musician ( some including the drummer, somewhat remembered me from band class) I happened to still have my instruments in my car and they invited me to perform with them just out of a sense of being open and welcoming. I will never forget that, and that's part of the healing process I talked about. The second night was a fancier affair, with a 50 dollar charge for it, and when I was asked by some of the people there if I was going ,and I balked and they correctly guessed that it was due to the money troubles I was having at that time, the people in charge of the reunion insisted, and assured me that I didn't have to pay a cent. And it was another great night. It was about 50/50 between black and white, which was nice in and of itself, and also assured a steady stream of fantastic 60's soul music from the DJ all night. And once again, had more interesting, intelligent and enjoyable conversations with a bunch of nice and almost uniformly progressive, thoughtful people.


P.S. At about 2:30 , there is a momentary still picture of me playing the sax that first night (look for the VERY short white guy, LOL). Lewis's drummer, Frankie Donaldson is on stage there too, and the singer, Dudley Fair, had recorded some soul albums back in the day too.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DtAmD4bEMQ

[tango-tee]

27. Yeah, I saw you there!

Are you already in Chicago? BTW - you haven't forgotten about our friend's b-day, have you?

Wait, wait, there's something I hope to be able to find for you on this gloomy, chilly Saturday night. Hang on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa0ynjl80U4

If it works it should be Lady Day John Coltrane

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

3. I have avoided all the reunions

I've never been good at parties. I'd hang out by the bar, or outside with the smokers, even though I don't smoke.

Casual conversation, meet & greet, mixers, I'm pretty much a failure at those things.

But I hope you have a good time. And don't be one of those who drop like flies.

:hi:

edit to add: I've already missed the 35th.

[hippywife]

4. I hope you have a good time, Chris.

The last one I went to was my 25th. I moved too far away after that, and basically I already keep in touch with who I want to see from those days. They were horrible years for me but everyone was very nice the last time I went. My 35th is next year, doubt I will go.

[WCGreen]

22. there seems to be a lot of good vibes about this one...

The last two were just baiscally a few folks who live around getting together at a bar. Nothing fancy but it was fun.

[xchrom]

5. lol -- i don't think my class has ever had a reunion. nt

[Dr Morbius]

6. Shoot, I only went to one high school.

35? Did you get kicked out or move a lot?

:P

I will not attend any reunions; I didn't like those people thirty years ago and they didn't like me. Why bother?

[Crystal Clarity]

7. 35th huh...wow, lots of old farts on this thread! jk all!

:P

My 25th was last year. Didn't go, but heard it was kind of a boring event and not many people attended. I hope yours is a good one WC. Have fun!

[doc03]

8. I may go to my 75th if I am alive, I won't have to listen

to very many BS stories about their wonderful family and how much money they have.

[rurallib]

9. I went to my 5th. That was it

I don't know why I ever thought that the assholes in HS would be any different.
So I thought how badly I had wanted to get away from people like that, so why would I ever want to be with them again.
About once a month I get an email that somebody died or didn't die. I usually write back to say please take me off your email list, but they don't.

[av8rdave]

10. I've never bothered with any HS reunions

Mainly because those years just weren't all that important in the grand scheme of my life. But that's atypical, I think.

I've never missed a college reunion, and have had a blast at every one of them! In fact, I'll be going to my 30th in the Fall.

Have a great time at yours!

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. Man, you've gone through a lot of high schools.

:P

Have fun!

[Rosie1223]

13. No Kidding! You'd think at some point they would just *give* him a diploma!

:D

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. I feel like a total slacker, having only gone to the one...

:rofl:

:thumbsup:

[LibDemAlways]

12. Have a good time. My 40th is this year. An old friend is coming from

out of town. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't bother.

Because I was such a zero in high school, I decided to actually organize the 20 year reunion. It was only then that I realized I was below zero - somewhere in the negative number range. No one, other than a few old pals, even knew who I was. There was one other classmate with my first name and she received congratulations throughout the evening for a job well done. It was so bad she felt obliged to seek me out and apologize. Nothing like a high school reunion to dredge up old feelings. I do however, hope that yours goes well and that you enjoy yourself.

More of my classmates dropped like flies, by the way, early on - drug overdoses, car accidents, and AIDS were the culprits.

[Auggie]

15. We're the same age, WC -- our class is apparently not having one

this year. We were not a particularly close bunch to begin with, so no loss.

[gratuitous]

16. Next year is my 35th reunion

I've taken a pass on all the previous ones, but I figure I'll go to this one if they have it. My plan is to bicycle down for the weekend (about 75 miles), figuring that any lame-o can rent a limo, but biking in would be rather cool.

I imagine that I'll have a pretty good time, no matter who shows up. I'm pretty sure that what we were doing at 17 or 18 years of age didn't define our lives for all time. It will be interesting to see who's there, and what they've been up to. It'll also give me a chance for rebuttal for all the rumors that I'm sure are swirling about me. I'm positive everyone's thinking and talking about me.

Hmmm, better get an extra name tag.

[elocs]

17. This year would be my 40th and out of 575 in the class maybe 10 have died.

They died throughout the past 40 years.

I have never been to any of my reunions in spite of the fact I still live in the same city. There would not be a single person there I would want to see anyways. Most of the people who were my friends in high school and who grew up in my neighborhood were in the class behind me and I don't need a reunion to see them.

[TripleKatPad]

18. I went to one and only one--my 25th

I went with my best friend.
She died unexpectedly, tragically five years later.
I'll never go to another.

[Redstone]

19. Only 35 years? Dang, you're young.

Redstone

[WCGreen]

21. yea....

Don't feel that young but I know I am still fairly young...

[Xipe Totec]

20. I only had the one High School

I figured I'd make the best of it.

[old mark]

24. I already got the invitation to my 45th. Threw it out.

Never been back, never goin'.

I think it will be this summer sometime.


mark

[Fire Walk With Me]

28. My 30th will be in 2012.

The house I'm at is 2012...I have a blog about 2012.

Snerk.