Posted on 08/07/2015 9:35:02 AM PDT by Kaslin
My 50th high school reunion is still a month away -- time enough to lose the 10 pounds that have crept back on after a successful diet a few years back. I have a feeling all my classmates are in the same boat. Well, maybe not all. As I look through the pictures of those brave enough to post updates to their graduation photos, there are a few who have remained slim, but most are heavier and almost all grayer, except for the minority, who, like me, color their hair. I don't know that I'll make my goal, and maybe I should just give up the ghost.
Why is it that facing one's former classmates seems so daunting? A few friends who are former classmates have already told me they aren't attending. It's not that they don't want to see everybody; it's that they don't want to be seen. Mind you, these are successful, attractive people who have good lives, but they aren't ready to face the fact that they aren't the 18-year-olds they once were.
Fifty years is a big chunk of time, and having that amount of time elapse in your life makes you realize you're old. I remember meeting my Uncle Milton in Sheridan, Wyo., in 1991, where he was attending his 50th high school reunion. At the time, a 50th seemed so far off I couldn't imagine being interested in attending my own. Uncle Milt was an old man to me -- retired, a little on the grumpy side and not someone I could fathom kicking back on the dance floor.
The morning after the event, however, he seemed rejuvenated. He had many stories to tell of what happened to his classmates, who had graduated during WWII. Some had died in the war, and virtually all the boys had served in combat, including Milt, who was a naval officer. Most of his classmates in the small public school had done well despite their modest beginnings. They were, after all, part of the Greatest Generation.
Far fewer of my classmates served during our generation's war in Vietnam. Of the 97 classmates who've signed up for the reunion site, only 11 served in the military -- but that is a far greater number than you'd see today. Only about .5 percent of Americans serve now. But my class is well represented in most other professions: lawyers, teachers, engineers, business owners, police and firefighters, nurses, even an artist or two, a singer, and some writers, as well as homemakers and even a couple of nuns.
Ours was a Catholic school that served a diverse, largely lower middle class parish in the heart of Denver. The nuns and the handful of lay teachers who taught us didn't much care what our parents did -- my father was a house painter and my mother worked in a department store. They expected us to "amount to something," as they would say.
College was not yet the norm. No one ever mentioned I should consider applying to college, though the nuns made sure I took all the classes that would prepare me to do so, including trigonometry and calculus, chemistry, physics and four years of language, Latin and French. When I ended up taking classes at the extension center for the University of Colorado part time while I worked the year after I graduated, I found that writing essays was a lot easier than standing on my feet eight hours a day in 3-inch high heels. I decided college was a better option than following in my mother's footsteps.
My guess is I will hear lots of similar stories from my classmates. And who knows -- we may get so absorbed in listening to one another's lives that we won't even notice those extra pounds. I hope so, because a month seems a very short time to try to get rid of the accumulated freight of 50 years.
I went to my 45 year a couple of years ago and thought I had dropped in on a reunion for my grandmother.......
I wished they had class reunions while my husband was stationed in Germany and we lived there. A class mate of mine who lives in Long Island, NY went to every class reunion, but it was easy for her because she used to be a flight Attendant for Pan America.
i’ve got my 50th next weekend ... the organizers invited the class before ours and the one after as well ... they did that for our 40th too
I graduated in1968 and had my reunion in 2013. Many women told me I was the classiest person at the whole shindig. I was polite, gracious and not putting on airs and enjoyed sharing the episodes in my life. And, yes, I got laid that night.
Got my 40th coming up. It’s only 200 miles away and I’ll probably go. I was the real skinny kid in school so I have no problem with my belly, even though I’ve been losing weight since the divorce. (must be from eating my own cooking.)
I went to my 10th and surprised everyone. Showed up in my Navy uniform. No one had any idea the I would join the military.
Then, the Great Recession totally busted up my already insufficient retirement savings.
So, I'm old, lower middle class, I look 15 years younger than most people my age, and I can outrun all of them.
Hmmmm - think I'll stay home and go to bed early on reunion night.
I’m in your group RB and a year ahead of LL so I can identify with your Nixon recall. My class has begun some preliminary planning via Facebook and a meeting among those still local. I’m a couple of hours away and volunteered to do whatever I can from a distance. I was surprised by the early interest since the 45th is 2018.
I feel sorry for those who had such poor high school experiences that they never want to see anybody ever again. It may be different for me since I went to school with the same group from kindergarten on through the years.
I was not in the “big shot” crowd in my class. That was over 50 yrs. ago. - Several years ago, I asked the self-appointed class ruler to please remove my name from their list of class members. (I had attended most all the stuff through the 40th reunion PLUS all husband’s class stuff.) - When Katrina hit in NO; my class was planning a big cruise- those who could afford it, that is. - Then the cruise ships were commandeered for housing for the refugees from Katrina who had lost their homes in the flooding. - That bunch was STILL beating the drum for the cruise; and I just got enough of the tone deafness that dominated that bunch. - So, God bless ‘em. I just want to get OLD & FAT in PEACE!
My wife and I graduated together and had bought tickets to attend our 50th this summer. A very serious last-minute problem in our son’s family kept us from attending, but I got a great note from an old friend letting us know we were missed and sharing some stories with us. I suppose this was our last chance to meet up again with old classmates - at least on this earth - so I’m still sad we had to skip it.
I made myself scarce at first and eventually moved out of state, but when I moved back to Michigan in 1999 I attended the 25th reunion and later the 30th. Had a pretty good time but skipped 35 and 40. 45 is next year - we’ll see.
We need to see before and after pictures....we will judge you fairly....
**** I’ve never been to any of my class reunions and have very little interest in doing so. Maybe if I happened to be back in town at the same time, but I’m never going to fly 2000 miles just to spend a night hanging out with those people. The couple of friends from high school I’d be interested in talking to I’m already in contact with, and they were a year behind me.” *****
One of the few times I give my Ph Number, Like you, no Road Trip, they want me to kick their ass again after all these years it will be on their dime...
Just curious about how many girls actually ended up with the guys I fought. Probably 0. I still am in contact with anyone I give a crap about.
My college 60th would have been last year.
We had no reunion,but we did have a 50th. Had a good time.
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