High School Reunion: 40th Anniversary Memories

[Jimmy Snyder]

Saturday night was the 40th anniversary reunion for my high school graduating class. I went out of curiosity to see people that I only vaguely remember and who only vaguely remember me. I was a small kid and there were only two other kids that I could wrestle with. Both were there. One of them is my mother's doctor. The other reminded me that we had fought after school about something neither of us remembers. We were the laughing stock of the school as we threw unconvincing punches at each other, missed, and went home relieved that nothing more had happened. I remember that I picked the fight because I thought it would make me manly. It didn't work. There was a kid that I sat next to in the back of the room in calculus class. We both paid little attention in class because it was too easy. We both got degrees in Math, and we both ended up as software engineers. There was a third guy in our back row, but he died 20 years ago. One of my friends was there. We lived near each other and so we walked to and from school together along with a third fellow who didn't show, even though he still lives in the same house he did then. There was a woman whose name I remembered, but nothing else, until she smiled and that smile brought back the memory of her. There was a brother and sister pair who were the only two that I recognized without being reintroduced. A lot of people told me something that I had never realized. Unless they were 'popular', they didn't know anyone other than the small group they walked to and from school with, just like me.

 

[Evo]

All of my "high school" age friends were several years older than me and all went to different private high schools. I wasn't in high school for very long and didn't associate with any of my classmates. I didn't really have a high school experience, I don't think I missed much as I had a very active social life then.

My old friends during those years live in various parts of the world now.

 

[lisab]

Sounds like it was a great evening!

I haven't gone to any of my reunions.

In 2002, I heard through the grapevine that they were planning the 20th, but we graduated in 1981. I contacted one of the people planning it (they all still live in the area) and asked about the discrepancy. She said, "Oh, yeah, we forgot! So we're off by a year."

I went to school with a bunch of losers.

 

[Evo]

In 2002, I heard through the grapevine that they were planning the 20th, but we graduated in 1981. I contacted one of the people planning it (they all still live in the area) and asked about the discrepancy. She said, "Oh, yeah, we forgot! So we're off by a year."

I went to school with a bunch of losers.

 

[turbo]

I attended my 10-year reunion, and in that time, about half of the people that had gotten married after graduation were already divorced. Some of them are on their 3rd or 4th marriages now. In typical small-town fashion, everybody seemed to have dirt to dish on someone else. Absolute waste of time.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I stayed in touch with anyone that I cared about, so I never attended any reunions.

 

[turbo]

I stayed in touch with anyone that I cared about, so I never attended any reunions.

That's my solution, too, and it makes more sense because some of my best friends were NOT in my graduating class.

 

[waht]

My high school experience sucked. a lot of us were too immature then to form any good lasting friendships. All of my buddies have disappeared right after graduation. I bumped to a few pals on accident a couple years later only to say "hi." We had nothing more in common. I found out later that another pal committed suicide, and my best friend from HS works in the same job since HS. So when our first reunion was coming up, I didn't go.

 

[edward]

I stayed in touch with anyone that I cared about, so I never attended any reunions.

I have done the same thing. I did have quite a few friends and still keep in touch by e-mail.

I had a great high school experience. I even spent six years in the high school band.

It was a small town school. The high school and junior high were in the same building. When I entered the 7th grade most of the high school trombone players had graduated in the spring. I was asked to join the high school band.

I was a bit timid at first but the older kids, especially the girls, just kind of adopted me.

 

[turbo]

I even spent six years in the high school band.

Me, too, and for the same reason. Not enough junior high kids for a second band, so we played in the HS band. My class was the largest ever to graduate from that school: 42 kids.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The best friend that I made in high school was my physics teacher. After high school we stayed in touch and eventually grew very close. It reached a point were we talked on the phone for an hour, or two, or three, almost every week, and we continued to do so for over twenty years. He passed away last year at age 80.