On Our Way To Crazy

Well, it’s official. I’m old.

I spent this past weekend in Dallas for my 10-year high school reunion. I was really nervous, I have to say. I fretted about my outfit, worried about getting there too early, made sure to ride with a group so I didn’t have to walk in alone. Pretty much all the things I did in high school. And do now. Because I am a mature adult.

The reunion? Super fun. I did not expect that. There were tons of people there. It was held at a bar, so everything was really casual and informal. I liked that a lot. As much as I wanted to put on a fancy dress and go to a ballroom and tell everyone about how I invented post-its, I was much more comfortable wearing jeans and drinking beer.

I had a fairly large graduating class, about 350 kids, and I would say about 150 people came to the reunion. Most of them I wasn’t really interested in talking to. But there were several of ‘my’ people there. Do you know what I mean by ‘my’ people? Not my close friends, necessarily, but people who were always on my radar and I really wanted to see. Maybe we dated, or I always had a crush on them, or we were friends in elementary school but not so much after that.

This reunion was good for me in regards to those people. There were a couple whom I felt I never got a good ending with, if that makes sense. We just kind of moved out of each other’s lives. I know that’s a good thing, but it was nice this weekend to feel like I got some closure with those people. And I didn’t even have to get drunk at a restaurant and borrow a cell phone from a stranger and then drop it in an ice bucket. So that’s good.

Picture time!

This is Callie and Randa. We have been friends since the first grade. Callie’s family lived right down the street from us. My mom drove carpool, and she would go to Callie’s house, wake her up, then go pick up Randa and a couple of other girls and then swing back by and get Callie. Randa used to sing along with the guitar solos when we did karaoke.

This is Kendra. We knew all the words to Mr. Wendell and could quote Cool Runnings like nobody’s business.

This is Ryan. We dated for a month one summer and never talked again. Turns out he does remember all that stuff, and we had a hilarious conversation about it.

This is Kelley and Melanie. They were my BFFs. We are all extremely different people now, but I am glad we can mostly still be friends. It also makes me glad to live in Nashville.

So! Overall, the reunion was a success. I had a great time. It was really fun to see everyone and talk about old memories. It was also really fun to come home. At around midnight, during the afterparty, I texted Aaron and just said, “Thanks for getting me out of this place.” I love those people, but I’m glad they’re not my ‘real life’ people anymore. I had a good high school experience. I still have great friends from those days. But these days are the ones I like the most.