Ten Years...Really?

My ten year reunion took place about a month ago. On the day I graduated high school I started thinking about my ten year reunion. Romy & Michele's High School Reunion had come out just a couple years before that and how could one not fantasize about what it would one day be like. Would I be the one that had to show up and make up lies about what I had done the past ten years? "I invented Post-Its." - HA! Would I be married? Would I have children? Where would I live? Graduating from high school was an exciting time in a teenagers life and your ten year reunion seemed to offer some sort of future gauging mechanism for what would be in the years to come.

A few other girls from my class and I took it upon ourselves to start the planning. At first, I was just as gung-ho about the whole thing as I had been on graduation day. But, as the planning went on, and the majority of our class showed such apathy toward the whole thing, it got me thinking, "maybe this wasn't going to be as cool as I had always thought it would be. And, why didn't anyone care? Should I even go?"

The planning progressed and it wasn't until about two weeks out from the festivities that I finally said, "ok, we are going. I don't want to ever look back and think I wished I would have went to my reunion." Overall it ended up being a great time. It was absolutely wonderful to see some people I hadn't seen in years. The strange thing was that for the most part, everyone seemed to still be the same person - looked the same, acted the same, still got made fun of for the same old things, etc. - but for some reason, those "same people" that had been inseparable ten years prior, were now nearly complete strangers. How did that happen?

I am from a small town, so the majority of my graduating class was with me on my first day of kindergarten (a few even with me for preschool). We were all friends over the years. But were we all just friends because we had been since we were 5 - we didn't know anything else or more specifically, anyONE else? It isn't until you are separated from them and go your different ways that you start to realize that although you love those people and they will always be a part of your life, you will come across other individuals throughout life's path that you will find a connection with unlike anything you had ever experienced previously. You become friends with these new people because you "choose" them to be your friend, not merely because you had known them since you were 5. I have extremely fond memories of growing up in Warrenton, Oregon and I absolutely adore each and every one of the special people that helped me to become the person that I am today. I miss many of those people and there are even parts of me that sometimes wish I would have done things a little differently in order to keep those people in my life more over the years. And, there are certain friends that I have been fortunate enough to reconnect with in the past few years - thanks to the wonders of the world wide web I have a great means to communicate and stay in touch even though we are thousands of miles apart.

All in all, I have to say that I am really glad that I attended my reunion and more importantly, I am extremely proud of Warrenton High School's class of 1999. Each and every person that I was able to catch up with at my reunion seems happy and whatever it is they are all doing, they are trying to be the best at it. Be it a stay at home mom, a nurse (Sammy that is your shout out), a teacher, a mechanic or still trying to find there way, I am sincerely proud to know each and every one of those people and so thankful for all of the memories we made together and shared over the years. I also have to admit that the hubs - who's high school was bigger than our college - got a complete kick out of my little small town reunion. I love being able to share exciting milestones such as this with my husband during my Life As A Wife.