Aprons, Heels, and Yoga Pants

I wrote this in July of 2015, after my high school reunion. Just feel like sharing it now…….

Twenty – five years went by pretty damn fast. I was thrilled to finally be able to make it to a class reunion last night. It’s had me wondering if I am alone in feeling ridiculously sentimental these days.

I was choking back the tears as I drove home from the reunion, wondering how we could all so casually say good bye, when some of us haven’t laid eyes on each other for 25 years? Personally, some of the people in that room were my world for a time during those formative years. I miss them. What is it about high school?

We grow, change, and certainly make new friends as the years go on after those short four years that we thought would last forever. (or hoped) Just four years together and we desire to reunite every five if possible. Sure, many people who never moved knew each other before high school, but still, high school is what we are reuniting for.  Maybe it’s the intensity of those four years. For some of us our friends in high school became our family….the ones we sought refuge in when home was no longer a safe refuge. I remember living for the weekends; for that time of socializing as much as possible until Sunday night called us home and the dreaded Monday morning of unfinished home work loomed. For others, those brief four years were their “glory days.” Life was good, (at least at school), and they were like rock stars walking down those halls. But for all, our dear friends were the ones in our lives who were feeling awkward along with us during our awkward stages. They understood heart break was real at 16, even if parents thought it was silly. They knew what you needed or wanted without saying a word, because we spent so much time together, gossiping, sharing secrets and hairspray after gym class, passing notes, (we had no texting!), making Friday night plans,…..everything. There’s just no other time like it. Guess that answers the question as to why we want to reunite and somehow relive those memories….there’s just no other time like it.

As the years go on and middle age sets in, thoughts of those halls now seem even more special and warm. Now we don’t care who knew who and who did what. Now we just want to know that we are all okay. We are all still here, healthy, and together whenever possible.