My High School Reunion Post
So I went to my reunion not knowing exactly what to expect. I figured I'd see a few friends, get bored and leave early. There was even a back up plan. My brother Chris told me that he was going to be around. To which, I replied; "If this gets boring, you and I will go find something to do."
I got there exactly on time, which means that I was early. I chatted with a few people that were there and waited to see if people I really knew would show up. They actually did! I saw quite a few that I kinda knew and about a dozen that I knew really well. But the best part was running into several people from my old neighborhood (where my Dad still lives). We knew each other all the way back to Elementary school and played together when we were really little kids. It was great to reconnect with them and talk about all the things we used to do and what we've been up to in the last 20 years. Ah, the memories.
We were having such a good time that I lost track of time. And before we knew it, the event was over. A bunch of people were all going off to the next party place to continue catching up. They urged me to come along, but I told them I needed to get a little sleep before heading back home to finish getting ready for our Halloween party. I vowed to get a Facebook account to keep in touch and then went back to my Dad's house for the night.
I starting thinking about the oldest of friends that I talked to and the nature of a friendship that long in the making. Some of the people I had known for 10-12 years of my childhood before I left Houston after graduation. We shared so much history from that time. We experienced loosing teeth, growing up, friends & family members dying, parents divorcing, friends moving away, confessions of attempted suicide, trying to fit in, learning to drive, getting drunk and everything in between. It is that depth of shared experience, over that length of time, that in my opinion transcends typical friendships and delivers those people into more of a familial type connection. It was quite an unexpected result of going to this reunion. Something that I hadn't even considered. I really and truly enjoyed the event.
The funny thing was finding out that dmonbike went to the same high school and was a freshman when I was a senior. He knew a guy that I was friends with and saw my pic on his Facebook. Small world indeed!
I got there exactly on time, which means that I was early. I chatted with a few people that were there and waited to see if people I really knew would show up. They actually did! I saw quite a few that I kinda knew and about a dozen that I knew really well. But the best part was running into several people from my old neighborhood (where my Dad still lives). We knew each other all the way back to Elementary school and played together when we were really little kids. It was great to reconnect with them and talk about all the things we used to do and what we've been up to in the last 20 years. Ah, the memories.
We were having such a good time that I lost track of time. And before we knew it, the event was over. A bunch of people were all going off to the next party place to continue catching up. They urged me to come along, but I told them I needed to get a little sleep before heading back home to finish getting ready for our Halloween party. I vowed to get a Facebook account to keep in touch and then went back to my Dad's house for the night.
I starting thinking about the oldest of friends that I talked to and the nature of a friendship that long in the making. Some of the people I had known for 10-12 years of my childhood before I left Houston after graduation. We shared so much history from that time. We experienced loosing teeth, growing up, friends & family members dying, parents divorcing, friends moving away, confessions of attempted suicide, trying to fit in, learning to drive, getting drunk and everything in between. It is that depth of shared experience, over that length of time, that in my opinion transcends typical friendships and delivers those people into more of a familial type connection. It was quite an unexpected result of going to this reunion. Something that I hadn't even considered. I really and truly enjoyed the event.
The funny thing was finding out that dmonbike went to the same high school and was a freshman when I was a senior. He knew a guy that I was friends with and saw my pic on his Facebook. Small world indeed!