High School Reunion

[GetX'd]

The only reunion I went to that had a semblance of enjoyment was my 50th. That year they decided to make it a reunion for the entire school - every year since it came into existence, including current yrs. I had quite a few friends from my class and those below me and above me. So lots of people I enjoyed seeing. But the topper was - my ex who was homecoming queen her sr yr was there. I had not seen her in well over 30 yrs. I was notified by this gal when I first walked in - asked if I was me - Responded yes - then she said someone wanted to meet w/me. Fine Im here for the night. A few hrs later I was tapped on the back - turned around - didn’t say a word and I was staring at my ex. Still not saying anything she notified me of who she was - I knew it but was silent. She had aged very well - came close and gave me a big hug and quietly apologized for all that she had done to me back when. I told her I’d forgiven it a long time ago - and nothing more to say about it. She had come with all of her siblings who came up to me one by one and embraced me warmly and were so happy to see me. At that point I also knew they knew of much of want she’d done. So that was some closure on stuff it took me many years to get over and worth coming for. That was and will be my last reunion - zero interest in ever going to another.

 

[guy gadbois]

Mmmmm... Walleye! Good stuff Maynard.
I think that maybe its often curiosity, although not necessarily morbid. If I could go and be a mouse/fly on the wall/invisible, it would be a definite; I would really just like to see and hear about others. Feel no need to talk about myself or really to try and reestablish any relationship. Not that there was many to begin with...

 

[gtx6970]

I graduated in 1978. And haven't been to one single reunion. I do still talk to a few people I graduated with . And none of them attend the reunions either.

 

[patrick66]

I graduated from HS in '78. We had 162 kids in it; then the largest class ever. We've had 10. 20. 30, 40, and 45-year GTGs, and I missed my 30 because I was sick as hell. Unlike some of you all, I got along with maybe 80% of my class, and did all kinds of cool **** in school. Economically, my area was in a hell of a downturn, thanks in great deal to national and state politics. I couldn't wait to leave town! Dad had sold his business, and I was working two full-time jobs, just to keep from being too bored! Off I went to the USAF, never to return to live in my old town.

The ten and twenty year reunions were kinda boring, yet still fun. The forty was a lot of fun! We participated in the local annual parade celebrating the creation of our town. Rode an 18-wheeler lowboy float with the class. Squirted water on the spectators. Had a big picnic at one of our classmates' beautiful mountain home. Courtesy of social media, many of us reconnected prior to all that. A lot of fun! No pretentiousness, no BS, just plain fun!

We had our 45-year last year, which was much the same as the 40 was. We decided that we'd have a 45, as we lost four classmates in one month about six months prior. Now that 40 out of 162 were dead, a 45 was organized. It felt more urgent, in a sense. A lot of the no-shows are pretty sick, with all kinds of old-fart ailments going on. Will I go to my 50? If I'm alive and kicking in '28, sure! To me, these are fun, and important.

 

[khryslerkid]

I remember going to my fifth and the wife at the time asks "Who's all these gray haired men?" I said they're my classmates!

Went to my tenth and she asks "Who's all these balled headed men?" I said they're the gray haired ones from five years ago!

The next one I went to I believe was the 25th and I went with my friend, she graduated the same year. We had an okay time. They had put together a list of classmates who had passed and that was a little sad.

My high school was made up of several elementary schools in the area. One of the girls from my elementary school got all of us that were there together for a group picture. There were about fifteen of us and I was the only guy! Front and center with a big smile!

Yeah it's the 50th for me this year also. Haven't heard anything yet. Don't know if I'm going or not. I'll have to see if my friend is interested.

 

[GetX'd]

I graduated from HS in '78. We had 162 kids in it; then the largest class ever. We've had 10. 20. 30, 40, and 45-year GTGs, and I missed my 30 because I was sick as hell. Unlike some of you all, I got along with maybe 80% of my class, and did all kinds of cool **** in school. Economically, my area was in a hell of a downturn, thanks in great deal to national and state politics. I couldn't wait to leave town! Dad had sold his business, and I was working two full-time jobs, just to keep from being too bored! Off I went to the USAF, never to return to live in my old town.

The ten and twenty year reunions were kinda boring, yet still fun. The forty was a lot of fun! We participated in the local annual parade celebrating the creation of our town. Rode an 18-wheeler lowboy float with the class. Squirted water on the spectators. Had a big picnic at one of our classmates' beautiful mountain home. Courtesy of social media, many of us reconnected prior to all that. A lot of fun! No pretentiousness, no BS, just plain fun!

We had our 45-year last year, which was much the same as the 40 was. We decided that we'd have a 45, as we lost four classmates in one month about six months prior. Now that 40 out of 162 were dead, a 45 was organized. It felt more urgent, in a sense. A lot of the no-shows are pretty sick, with all kinds of old-fart ailments going on. Will I go to my 50? If I'm alive and kicking in '28, sure! To me, these are fun, and important.

Holy sh!t you’ve lost 40 out of 162! And not that old. Geez what’s in the water there?

 

[kiwigtx]

I have never been to any of my high school reunions. My family moved north after I completed my 3rd year, and I ended up doing another year plus 6 weeks of the following year before I left to start my apprenticeship. In all those 42 years since (almost to the week) I have not had one single person from high school make any attempt to track me down to catch up. I did have two friends from the late 70's hit town back in '80 soon after we moved north.....one had gotten messed up with drugs, the other was just passing through....and that was it.

I don't even know if anyone from high school would recognise me anyway. Perfect example....about 4 months ago I was walking across the carpark at the local shops here in Half Moon Bay. Nice area....with a beautiful marina and some very expensive & luxurious boats moored. I spotted this tanned guy walking towards me with what I assume was his young teenage son tagging along. As I got closer I recognised him immediately. We exchanged glances, but he seemed to not know me.
Not surprising really.....I mean he is so famous that he probably sees thousands of people every day. He and I were Computer Studies class-partners for my final stint at high school. It was fun at the time as computers were just coming out at the time. We were making ticker tapes and learning how to read them. The guy was Bruce Kendall.... MBE as well I think....he and his sister Barbara are Olympic board-sailing champions. The entire family are well entrenched in the area. I thought he might have recognised me....but not.

I told the guy I'm working for at the moment, and he laughed.....he knows Bruce well. Here's a pic of Bruce at Barcelona in '92....

The other really famous person I was at high school with wouldn't remember me either..... she met Ronald Reagan.....and our PM at the time Rob Muldoon...

I worked briefly with one high school friend, but his job status demanded that I was a subordinate, and his managers were a bit weird......City Traffic Controllers can be like that. I know quite a few I went to school with have died already....some tragically. A few have become DJ's on radio, and at least one made it to TV status. Lots of well-known rugby and cricket players.....an all-boys high school will do that.
I made friends with a guy up here in Auckland who knew a few of my old friends from the south...he played cricket with them in earlier years.

I am more than happy to remain the anonymous guy.....and my wife feels much the same about her days at school. The only lasting legacy is that she will always have her name on the High School Honours board. My name has been forgotten a long time ago.

 

[plymouth67]

I have never gone, My wife and I pulled in the parking lot of my 5th year reunion, saw all the ladies in like ball dresses and the dudes in Tuxedos and, Nope not for me. Why go drink beer with people who thought they were too good to drink beer with me in school. I hung out with a few people in my grade but, mostly hung out with dudes that were a grade older or a couple dudes from other schools close by. My 35th will be coming here in a couple years so, maybe then...doubt it...

 

[peabodyracin]

Class of 68. Never been to a reunion. No regrets.

 

[Runcharger]

They got ahold of me a week ago, Not interested, pass. I have maintained friendships with the cool guys though.

 

[Detective D]

Never been to one. Probably never will, even though I still live here.
Small town, most all of us got along but typical clicky crap in a small town, jocks, nerds, the "bad" kids, and then one more as we got into high school, the beer party kids.
Didn't really have a nerds group, at least, got along with everyone enough no one cared. It helped half the nerds were also the jocks, because we were farm boys. Half the class was farm kids. Half the class was the sports teams in a town our size lol.
Except the loudmouth beer party kids. They were a mix of the result of bad parenting from some of the town kids. Spoiled rotten. Some could have been on the sports teams but couldn't stay out of trouble, rich parents bailed them out. Most barely graduated. They were about 15% of the class but had 100% of the rude attitude and condescending remarks to everyone else. It wasn't like the rest of the class was too uptight to party. It was more the beer wasn't the all important part of it or the main reason to get out of bed in the morning. Yes, we had 15 year old alcoholics.

Guess which group decided to take on the class reunion duties?
No thanks.

 

[patrick66]

Holy sh!t you’ve lost 40 out of 162! And not that old. Geez what’s in the water there?

Pure Rocky Mountain spring water...and a wee bit of uranium/radon in tailings that were used in places as fill in construction in the Fifties. Very little in my town, but used much more further North and West.

Honestly, I think it's been bad luck more than anything. Car wrecks, suicides, and illnesses are the cause of the brunt of these deaths. Time matches on.

 

[SteveSS]

I think friends made during our school years can be lifetime friends. Mine are.

 

[cosgig]

Our town is a pretty tightly knit town, not too big but not too small. All of the classes in my era all joined together years ago and have a reunion every year, to celebrate years that span about 2 decades. It’s a 2 day event, with a golf outing, big party at the hosts house on the lake, fireworks, charity motorcycle rides and poker runs. It’s a great time to catch up with folks we don’t see every day, and some we hardly see at all. It’s a lot of fun, and although we don’t have to go every year, it’s a really fun event.

 

[dart4forte]

High School reunion this summer. The 50th for my wife and I (HS pair). Wasn’t going to go, last one we went to was #25 and it was about as marvelous as watching paint dry. Some trying to reluctantly say a few words to others outside their old cliques…”Oh I remember you, how are you?” Then the awkward looking around or sipping on the cocktail trying to generate any more useful conversation. Lol.

There are around four buds from HS that I still see. All of us are old car guys. Well, here’s how getting sucked into this went: One bud’s wife, also from HS, texts my wife pleading with her to ‘talk me into going’. Part a that is her hubby didn’t want to go knowing I didn’t. Same deal with another bud. She tells my wife he’s going; but come to find out, nope he’s not. WTF. 50 years and this is the 2nd reunion I’ll be attending – we’ll all look like we belong in a senior citizen home and congregate around the people we still associate with anyway. Can do the same **** going out to dinner.
If anyone can lemme know why attending sounds appealing great.

My 50th was in September. Had a great time. Our class wasn’t even close, lots of race problems but now you would think we were all brothers and sisters. I guess that’s what age does to you. Oh, and my wife had a blast.

 

[YY1]

There's only a small handfull of people I'd have any interest in seeing.
Most of them were 2 yeas ahead of me, so they wouldn't be at my year's gig anyway.
...and I'm fairly certain none of them would be interested in going either.

Every now and then I think it might be fun to show up and let people see that the "F up" they thought I was did MUCH better in life than what I bet most of them did, but then I just laugh and get on with my life.

Also, sometimes I think about someone back than and "google them".
Some have a presence, some don't, some have obituaries.
I've never actually contacted anyone that way, though.

My wife needs to do a reunion, although she's got the same feelings and rationale I do for not.

...but I bet she'd be "the talk" as back then she was "average" and quiet.
Today she is a knockout at 57, successful in many areas, and outspoken.

 

[Mackman]

We just had our 50th. We’ve had one every 10 years, and my wife and I worked on the planning each time. We were in the same class, which graduated 100 kids. Ten of them have passed, and being a relatively rural school district, most of us were together for all 13 years. 45 of our classmates attended this reunion, and although we weren’t all friends with each other in school, everyone seemed very happy to get together and visit. I tried to make a point of visiting with everyone there. I took a group picture, and everyone there signed up to receive a copy, so I guess they were mainly pleased. We’re thinking of doing it again in 5 years.

 

[Ron H]

We’ve had one every 10 years, and my wife and I worked on the planning each time.

That’s nice to do the planning, hope you and your wife received some kudo’s. We did for those planning ours and pitched in for couple of thank-you gifts. Ours was unusual as the reunion combined the two-HS’s in town and was a pretty large group. Wife and I were the first class having attended the new school all four years. Knew a couple people from the other school; but doubly awkward as it was tough enough to recognize anyone after 50 years that we went to school with, much more than bumping around those having gone to the other school. Lol, chat with a few people for a few minutes as we’re trying to remember each other from school then it was “Oh, you went to north, I went to east.” The name tags and photos were small, like people 30 years younger could make out without having to plant your puss 4-inches from their chest to read them.

Lots of fond memories though; bumped into a guy, we were casual friends shooting the chit during study halls in the cafeteria. Lol, we’d play the pencil game on the table to thwart boredom. Put your hand on the table fingers spread apart and take the pencil to see how fast you could poke it btw the fingers w/o stabbing a finger. Get poked and try to keep the ‘ouch’ volume down. This guy had a ’68 Roadrunner and I had just sold my ’67 GTO, buying my brother’s ’69 GP (I know WTF was I thinking – I still wonder to this day). Yep, we got to talking about who had the quicker ride. As the study hall was open then, we walked out to the parking lot, got in our rides and out to the street, a boulevard. We raced three times and I lost three times. Well dah, yeah figured my luxury boat wouldn’t match against his 383 Runner; but wondered how much of a miss-match it would be. Ahh, it was something to do for grins. Made it back just in time to grab our books and on to the next class. Not the only time I did that; but faired better with the goat.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Attended the "New School" twice in High School.... First year in Turkey attended school in a Quonset Hut... All years of school 1-12 were held in a cluster of about twenty Quonset huts, they had a divider wall so each hut had two classes... The second year my older brother & I attended High School at the brand new Incirlik AFB High School.... End of the school year dad got transferred to Nellis AFB Las Vegas Nv. And I attended HS at the brand new Eldorado HS in North Las Vegas... First year it was open & my first time attending a school that wasn't on base... First time seeing racial tension, on base we never had crap like that, at Eldorado there were fights practically every week..... We had the cowboys, the dirtbikers, the blacks, and the regular folks... It seemed like mostly it was the cowboys vs the blacks, but sometimes the dirtbikers vs the blacks... All my life up to that year I'd been friends with a lot of the black kids... In Vegas for what ever reason it was different...

Anyway, Dad retired from the service and we wound up in Modesto... The next two years were spent at Thomas Downey HS which was a bunch of kids who all grew up together & I didn't fit in.... As soon as I graduated I joined the service to GTFO outta Modesto....

 

[70bigblockdodge]

My rocket scientist classmates could not add 10 to 1984, so they had it in 1993. Do I need to go on?