So last night I was the +1 at my wife’s 20th high school reunion. Neither of us had ever been to a reunion before so it was a new experience for both of us. I didn’t grow up in the same town as my wife (not even the same state) and we don’t spend much time their anymore having moved away, and on, with our lives. I knew I wasn’t going to know anyone and I don’t drink anymore so the free drink tickets weren’t of much help. So I decided to get my $75 worth by stuffing my face with appetizers, cheese and crackers, lots of little desserts, and of course, people watching.
As I chowed down on bacon-wrapped scallops, chicken satay, and some weird little mousse concoctions, I gazed around the room as my wife caught up with some of her old swimming buddies. It’s somewhat odd to be in a room with several hundred people knowing that at least half of them (subtract out the +1’s) were all basically the same age. Yet if you didn’t know that, you would NEVER have guessed it. There were those who clearly never left home, never grew up, and never aged one bit. There were others, my wife included, who looked matured but still very much in their younger years. And then there were those who looked like they had lived a hard life, aged, perhaps with a little too much time under the tanning lamps. Could all these people really be from the same high school class?
The band played a mix of music with a slight affinity for early 90’s music. Those brave soles that ventured out onto the dance floor flashed back to their youth, flinging their bodies around the floor with a total disregard for their ego and the safety of others around them, drinks in hand. I found this particularly ironic since the last time most of these people saw each other, it was all about how to sneak beers from their parents’ houses or the local liquor store. They lip synced to "Ice Ice Baby" and "This Is How We Do It" and took crazy pictures.
All the while, my wife chatted with friends she hadn’t seen since heading off to college. Yet amazingly, they all knew about each other’s jobs, what their kids were interested in, and where they were living now. We got congrats on the birth of our new baby from people that couldn’t even pronounce our last name. It was as if we were walking around with our autobiographies plastered to our foreheads. Which had us wondering, “What were reunions like before Facebook?”
I probably know more now about the lives of my friends from high school than I did back then. Close friends I had completely lost touch with in the years following those four years together now commonly “like” pictures of my family vacations and frequently comment on my statuses. Without Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instragram and the many other social media outlets where friends from long ago reconnect at deeper levels, what would a class reunion be like? I guess that’s a mystery that will forever remain unanswered…or I guess I could just ask my mom!
