Final Reunion Thoughts

Sunday morning came early after a late (for me) night Saturday - after spending 6 hours on my feet at the reunion, it was time to run.  Literally.  My training plan had me scheduled for 20 miles on the weekend, so I mapped out a route from Kokomo High School through Highland Park - it was a 2.5 mile course, so I figured I'd run it out-and-back 4 times.  It worked out well; I could keep Gatorade and Gu Chomps in the car and also hit the water fountains in the park.  An added bonus: I'd get to run through my old neighborhood as well as the park where I spent much of my formative years.

You wouldn't believe how many memories flooded back as I ran back and forth.  Though there have been changes since I was there, much was still the same.  I saw the various trees I spent time in. I especially enjoyed seeing the other runners in the park (I counted 16 - including one guy who was running 9 miles who I saw multiple times).  As I finished running, there was an older guy on a bike going the same direction.  He had to have thought I was extremely strange (at best) as I sprinted to "beat" him to my "finish line."

I cleaned up, had breakfast (prepared by Suzanne Carey), and headed for church.  I had decided to go to Chapel Hill Christian Church's 10:30 service, which was really good timing - I was able to get cleaned up, eat breakfast, and get to church on time.  There, the coolest thing happened: as I went into the church, the first person I saw was my old friend Darrell.  I had been e-mailing with Darrell and was bummed that he wasn't going to be at our reunion (family vacation took priority) - so I was super excited to see him.  It was great to get a chance to worship with him, to have him take me on the "tour" of the building (they've built a new sanctuary since I was there - and renovated most of the old), and to go out for lunch together after church.  We laughed so hard at all the old stories - most of which hadn't been told in years. I hadn't seen Darrell or his wife since they made their way to Chicago for my wedding, over 13 years ago...

This was probably my highlight of the weekend - getting to hang out with an old friend for as long as we wanted, talking, laughing, sharing.  And I hope to not wait 20 years to do it again.

Reunion Thoughts, Part 4: Friday & Saturday

Though the focal point of the reunion was the reunion itself, there was a whole lot more to the weekend than just the major events.  The first part was having dinner at my sister's and getting to hang out with my nephews.  A highlight of that visit was sitting with Mark (who is almost 6), telling him stories of things his mom and I had done when we were little.  I had never gotten to have that kind of quality time with Mark (he's much more interested in playing with Jonathan than listening to Uncle Brian tell stories).

When I got to Kokomo, I stayed at David Carey's house.  David became my best friend approximately the first time I met him.  Actually we talked once on the soccer field when we were in 5th grade, but on the first day of 6th grade, we were instant best friends.  He wasn't able to make it to the reunion, but I stayed at his house anyway - his mom has always been my "second mom" to the extent that she (like my real mom) cries when I leave.  It was good to hang out with her a little bit (even if her dog doesn't like me), and it made things convenient for the reunion.

On Saturday morning, I went out to Converse, IN for the 5K run (I'm going with my watch time instead of theirs; it took me several seconds to actually get started with the disorganized start) - but I already blogged about that here. A highlight of the run was hanging out with some friends, but I thought "if I'm already in Converse, I ought to drop by Rainbow Christian Camp, where I went to church camp every year."  I pulled through, and I guess I was a little too spooked by all the old ghosts I'd left there, so I didn't get out of my car.  I thought the "old" section (which was the "only" section when I was there) was a little shabby - overgrown bushes and so forth - I don't know how much they use the old dining hall.  I was disappointed that the old Coke machine was gone.  Not surprised, as it was the kind that held glass bottles, but I remember it being a rite of passage into highschoolhood to be allowed to use the Coke machine.

On the way home, I stopped by Macedonia Christian Church, where I grew up. I hadn't been there in over 20 years, and I was happy to find a door open (a women's group was meeting) so I could go in and explore.  I found the old puppet stage we used for years back in the day, and I got to go through the "new" section (where the "old, old building" used to be.  It was also good to see some of our dear family friends.

Then on the way back to Kokomo, I had a chance encounter with the husband of one of my favorite teachers (actually I never had her class; she was our cheerleading sponsor) at a garage sale in Greentown. After lunch I went to Northwest Park to see a friend (whose husband was playing in a softball tournament).  It was a really relaxed way to hang out and remember... plus it was fun to meet her kids.  And as a bonus, I ran into my second cousin and his family when I was there!!!

Reunion Thoughts, part 3, the Actual Reunion

On Saturday evening, we had the "actual" reunion function. It was held at the Booster Club of Kokomo, a general reception hall. They had food and drinks available (I stuck to the lemonade, which was very tasty - you can never be too sure what the lemonade will taste like. Church lemonade is often on the, well, Crystal Lite side).

Someone came up with the clever idea to have our senior pictures on our nametags. I say "clever" because there were plenty of people who had changed significantly enough that I needed some extra help remembering who they were. So at least I could look and see what they used to look like (and possibly jog my memory as to who they were).

The biggest disappointment about Saturday evening is who *wasn't* there. When you've got a class of 500, there will be some no-shows. Some couldn't attend because they had other obligations, other couldn't afford to make the trip, and others just didn't want to go (for various reasons, good or bad). But seeing all of their nametags there was kind of sad. And then there were the ones who had died since 1990. Though I had been friends with several of our deceased classmates, it was saddest to see Joe Kratzer's picture on that board. He had been a good friend, and I know he would have had a good time there.

I mostly spent my time talking, sharing the same story multiple times with multiple people. Sometimes I forgot who knew that we had foster kids. The music was (at times) too loud for good conversation (I got over that "shout over the music" attitude when I was in college), but the DJ played lots of good 80s/early 90s music, and I enjoyed that.

I did end up having some really meaningful conversations that I never expected to have, and that was a highlight of my evening. The entire weekend was worth it just for those moments.

Reunion Thoughts, part 1

This weekend I went to my 20th high school reunion. I had been back in town a couple of times since then, but hadn't seen many people since I left, so I was excited to go back. On Friday night, I spent most of my time talking to two people.

The first was Richard, who I used to run with in middle school and high school. He doesn't run much anymore, but he looks like he could jump out and start right back where he left off. I hadn't seen Richard since graduation, and though it was good to see him, it was tough, as he's going through a rough time.

I also talked to Tony, who I *have* seen since graduation, and we did plenty of laughing.

Some random thoughts on the Friday night mixer:

*I'm not into the bar scene. I was rather surprised at how many people were smoking (and living in Ohio, I'd forgotten that some places still allow smoking in public buildings). Not so pleasant.

*I was surprised at how many people I *didn't* know. There were some people who didn't look any different than they did in high school, but there were others who I didn't recognize at all. Some of my classmates looked old and tired. Some seemed like they've given up on life. Others were drinking to excess, which doesn't necessarily say anything about their daily lives but maybe more about the company.

*People often talk about the cliques and how "those people still don't talk to anyone who wasn't in their clique." It's not that simple & not that black and white. Of course they primarily talk to their "clique" - those are the people they *knew* and the ones they were looking forward to seeing. It's just like me spending my time with Richard and Tony. I wasn't trying to exclude everyone else; I just wanted to catch up with old friends.

*Facebook has been a great facilitator of relationships. I specifically looked for some of my FB "friends" at the reunion (and was disappointed that I didn't get to reconnect with several). It's nowhere near as good as face-to-face communication, but it beats no communication.