fifteen years

[rone]

My high school classmates held their 15th anniversary reunion party (GRAN FARRA GRAN).  I was there for the 10th (and had a blast) but i couldn't make this one.  As i check out pictures from the event, it's depressing to see how many names i've forgotten (and some faces i don't recognize at all), interesting to see some people who haven't changed a lick and others who have (although are still recognizable), and a little scary to see the few who have aged poorly.  I hope to go for our 20th (assuming i'm not going to South Africa for the World Cup... tricky).

Comments

[erikred.livejournal.com]

I rather specifically didn't go to my 10th, although I might make the effort for my 20th or my 25th. Strange thought, 20 years....

Anyway, just wanted to let drop that I've been to Bondi, and it's a fun, if touristy, little beach.

[ptomblin-lj.livejournal.com]

My university class had their 20th a few weeks ago, and I didn't go. I went to the 10th, and even then I didn't remember the names of half of my classmates.

[matrushkaka.livejournal.com]

I hated high school. I didn't fit in the "cliques" and didn't really have many close friends, plus, I was different- I'm not a crowd follower, and to everyone else, that was soooo wrong - I didn't dress like them (gasp!), I didn't go to church or join Teens for Christ or whatever Youth Christian group was faddish back then (heathen!), went to Prom without a date (unimaginable!), and didn't go to the football games (horror!) To add insult to injury, they spelled my name wrong every single fucking year in the yearbook. I got picked on a lot for being different, for having black friends, for befriending the only gay people in the school, for reading college-level books, etc. So, I didn't bother going to my 10-year reunion. Why spend the money to fly out to Atlanta to see a bunch of people who are assholes?

I did fill out the "where are the alumni now" stuff that they sent me, and then I got a bunch of emails from people emailing me just because I lived in LA and they wanted Hollywood contacts. Grrrr. Someone emailed me saying "OMG WE MISSED YOU AT THE REUNION" - ironically, this was a girl who I had Chemistry and Physics with, and she used to sit behind me and mock the way I talked, and she sabotaged my lab experiments.

My best friend went and she said everyone got fat. That made me smile. Karma's a bitch.

[nyar.livejournal.com]

My HS 10 year reunion was cancelled due to apathy. Of course, they tried to schedule it for the weekend before Thanksgiving. I was planning on going before they picked one of the worst times of the year to hold it. I think a lot of people were of my mindset, even the people who still lived in the Chicago area.

The rumor is they will try to figure out the 15 year earlier in the year and hold it at a less crazy time. I will report back in a three years.

[pennyhill.livejournal.com]

Definitely go to the 20th. It's a whole different thing than the 10th. At the 10, everyone is posing, trying to convince everyone else they've "made it." We had a picnic (not a real party) for the 15th. I don't remember how people were because the love-of-my-life had just walked out on me and I was shell-shocked. Not too shell-shocked, of course, to miss the gathering and seriously misbehave after the picnic, but that's another spicy story ...

The 20th was really interesting because it was at that point people began reconnecting with one another. It stopped being "all about me" sort of deal and turned into a "who are you now" sort of thing. I really enjoyed talking to people I'd not known that well and finding what interesting people they'd turned into. Some people who were shy and didn't have the best social skills at 17 had turned into pretty interesting adults.

The 30th was even better, because a certain affection permeated the gathering. I reconnected with several old (and by then - OLD!) friends and we're still in touch. A few years ago some classmates began holding a summer picnic. I went to 2 or 3 of those.

I have my 40th in 18 days. Oh boy! I'm hideously self-conscious because I've gained serious poundage since the 30th. Nonetheless, I will push past all that and go because I always have a good time, I always find interesting people to talk to, and I really really REALLY like discovering who these "kids" became.

[mrbalihai.livejournal.com]

it's depressing to see how many names i've forgotten (and some faces i don't recognize at all)

Just wait 'til you get to your 25th, almost nobody's recognizable at that point. It was a good thing that our nametags all had little yearbook pictures on them.