<p>So I attended my 35th reunion a few weeks ago- with my H, first time either of us had been to a reunion
( he is a few years older & attended a different school in a different district- although one woman in particular felt it was extremely important she show him the picture of me in the annual- like that was gonna be so embarrassing he would run away in horror!!! * excuse me? H was present for the birth of our two children let alone for the last 34 years *& so sorry, he has already seen it all ).</p>
<p>It was * interesting*… but one thing that struck me was that even though the larger suburban area where I grew up has a reputation for being somewhat conservative, I was surprised that most of my high school classmates( and friends from right after high school- but that I haven’t seen for 30 years) that I renewed contact with, are both Republican & Christian,especially the ones who still live in the area. Of course I haven’t quizzed them as to what that means- but it just surprised me. ( & frankly made me feel happy, that I didn’t buy my moms 5 bedroom house, even though the walking distance to K-12 schools & a darkroom in the basement)</p>
<p>I am socially liberal & I have been an environmentalist ever since I was about 10- but I felt I was different from everyone I knew at the time. Now that many of the people I know, have shared interests with me, it just was really strange to be around people who I felt had such a different take.</p>
<p>But I don’t think it was necessarily the Republican/Christian part that bothered me- it was that they * really* seemed to be into consumption.
Brand new houses, brand new cars, & stuff & more stuff.</p>
<p>Not that everyone was like that- but by middle age, I just figured ( o.k. certain people- like my closer friends) would be more centered and not so full of trying to prove they belonged in the * inner circle*.</p>
<p>I still enjoyed the reunion- but to find that one of your best friends in jr/sr high had not matured socially/intellectually * at all* was weird.</p>
<p>To be honest, the only people from my high school graduating class that I’d like to see would never go to a high school reunion.</p>
<p>My guitar instructor who is also a well known musician in some circles, told me he didn’t go to his 10th reunion but he went to his 20th a few years ago & now there are people coming out of the woodwork asking him for passes etc. ( until he told me that, I seriously thought he was the same age as my oldest- 28! )</p>
<p>I think as more time goes by, the reunions seem more intriguing, I went only because some FB friends that I was really interested in seeing, were going to go- ( however, because I have no sense of time, I went late and they left early )</p>
<p>I went to my 10 and my 20. I have absolutely no desire to attend anymore of my reunions. I went to those 2 because our group of friends were going, but after the last one, we all looked at each other and said why are we doing this? Anyone we really cared about we have remained friends with, so it was a waste of time.</p>
<p>The strangest thing I recall was when we went to my 10, many of the guys and girls were just engaged or newlyweds. Bullet and I by that time were married 5 going on 6 yrs, and I was pregnant with our 3rd. When we returned for my 20th, Bullet and I were still the only married ones, since many were now divorced, except for a few others, it felt like a singles scene.</p>
<p>It was also weird, because I really had nothing at all in common with them. My eldest was entering hs, and theirs was entering 1st grade. My youngest was in his last yr of elementary and they were in their last trimester of their youngest. We were two different worlds.</p>
<p>When we returned for my 20th, Bullet and I were still the only married ones, since many were now divorced, except for a few others, it felt like a singles scene.</p>
<p>I have several friends who are about 10 years younger than I am- who are getting divorced- really a surprise in some cases, but maybe because in those cases I know the man more than I do their wife & men don’t really talk about relationships the way women do.</p>
<p>I did notice that most of the people there didn’t come with a spouse/partner- although several had stayed in contact with friends so they came together ( and the women still went to the bathroom together? )</p>
<p>I didn’t expect that, but I did have a nice conversation with someone I didn’t know in high school ( although I knew * her* as she was the head cheerleader et al), because we both seem to have very adventuresome daughters, hers is living in Somalia.</p>
<p>I almost didn’t go last summer to my 35th reunion but in the end I did go. I didn’t have much in common with anyone and the ones that attended I barely knew in high school but I enjoyed getting to know the people I talked with. This reunion was quite different than the previous ones as most people had grown kids and many were now grandparents or remarried to people not from the area and most lived locally so discussion was not about job, kids, etc…which was refreshing.</p>
<p>I just skipped my 30th reunion last month, having attended the 10th but not the 20th. I did this for three reasons:</p>
<p>1) Timing was poor with taking freshman ds to college. Reunion was the weekend before;
2) I’ve had various health issues that have taken a toll on my looks, and I didn’t feel like explaining it all and, vainly, just wished I looked better; and
3) I’m Facebook friends with most everyone I want to keep up with from HS and that takes a bit of the excitement off a reunion.</p>
<p>That said, last week I met with a guy I went to HS with and hadn’t seen since the 10th reunion. He hadn’t gone to the 30th either, but after we talked and talked for 2.5 hours, we were both regretting not going and pledged we’d both go to the next one so that we knew there’d be SOMEONE there we liked and could talk to. Also, pics showed that there were more people there I would have liked to have seen who hadn’t RSVP’d on FB.</p>
<p>More to the point of what OP observed – based on FB posts, I think I’m practically the only Democrat in my class of 500+, and that was another reason I didn’t go. I keep up with who I want, but lots of people I friended who I liked in HS I now realize are people with whom I no longer have anything in common. In fact, some I’ve had to put on “hide” because I find them so irritating. When I was growing up, I didn’t realize how conservative the area was, but because most people stayed there (I moved about three hours away) I’m not surprised now that they remain conservative. I guess I was most surprised how few people left.</p>
<p>My kids went to the same school that I attended. I’ve run into a few parents that I went to school with. Some of my best friends went to school with me. I see them all the time.</p>
<p>The other people that I was friends with in high school are dead. And that happens too.</p>
<p>I went to my 40th high school reunion a year ago and it was fabulous. Mine was a very large suburban high school (graduation class of about 1000). The nice thing about this reunion was the class website that was set up about a year before the event. Folks were able to post news about themselves and family and updated photos if they chose to. MANY folks actually reconnected before the reunion. </p>
<p>There were almost 400 at the reunion and it was terrific. All those high school “cliques” just disappeared. Folks who never spoke to you were asking about kids, grandkids, jobs, where you lived, etc. The evening was relaxing and so much fun. </p>
<p>Many folks (I’m included) have kept in touch via email and phone…and visits. Folks in the class live all over the country and abroad. When we went on vacation last spring, one of the nights was spent with a classmate and his wife and again…so much fun (and I should mention…this classmate and I were not particularly close friends 40 years ago!!).</p>
<p>I guess my experience was totally opposite from Emerald…people were open and outgoing and interested in others. </p>
<p>In fact, a straw poll was taken and the consensus was that waiting TEN years until the next reunion was simply too long. So we’re having one in five years (well four from now). In the meantime, “minireunions” continue to take place (our website is paid for for ten years) and are posted on the website. Whenever someone goes back to the old town…someone organizes a dinner out or a social hour. The cross section of folks who attend are quite diverse.</p>
<p>Going to my 30th reunion picnic today—actually 31 years since they close my high school in my senior year-so our class was split up amongst 3 schools—big bummer.
I have kept in close contact with about 4 gals----the rest of today’s attendees had better have name tags because I don’t remember any of them!!! Memory loss had better be prevalent at this gig!</p>
<p>At least it is a casual pot luck with 85 classmates (out of our 225) attending so that is nice. Should be interesting!</p>
<p>I enjoy attending mine. We’ve had them at 5, 10, 15 and 25. The earlier ones had more of a bent where people where trying to do the impressing thing, but now no one really cares and we’re just all interested in seeing each other and catching up. My class was small-~60 and we get 30-40, plus spouses. I’d say most of those 30-40 are fb friends, and it’s been nice to keep up that way as well.</p>
<p>My 40th is coming up in a few years. I went to a well known independent prep school where the development office takes care of organizing reunions so there is a reunion weekend for our class every 5 years. I have not been to all of them, but it is a good time. </p>
<p>At my 35th it was a very small gathering and we mingled with all the other classes as well since reunions for all are held the same weekend. For the 40th, I’m hoping to connect with as many as possible via Facebook or Classmates and see if we can get a nice showing.</p>
<p>Thumper- My experience is (going to be) similar to yours. Our 40th is in 3 weeks and we have had a ball getting ready for it. I don’t live nearby, but SO many of us have connected on facebook and had a few mini-gatherings (I get up to the area to see family and WildChild was in school up there). It has been fantastic. Even people I barely remember have been interesting, fun adults to get to know. I am a fan of the sports teams and we have all found facebook to be the greatest thing for us. I feel like I have about 100 new, fun, interesting friends. The relationships formed as adults are SO different from the ones in high school. I can’t wait until the actual event to see even more of my old classmates.</p>
<p>I went to 20 and didn’t find it great, but facebook has happened since then.</p>
<p>My class had an informal reunion (36 years, I guess) Friday night since it was homecoming weekend for our high school. I might have gone if not for a 7 AiM tailgate on Saturday morning.</p>
<p>My 30th is next year; I may go. I did not attend the 10th or 20th. I am with those that say that anyone I would want to see would not go to one.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why I’m considering this one. I was new to the school district for high school, I had a few close friends, but we lost touch over the years.</p>
<p>I think I had a lot of negative feelings about that time of my life and just put it behind me. But that has dissipated, and now I’m left with curiosity and maybe a sense of going back and taking one last look at it all.</p>
<p>Its funny how your perspective changes.
I grew up in a pretty sheltered suburban community- when I moved to " the big city of Seattle", ( although I had already lost touch with most of them) , my high school friends shrieked with confusion.
Why would I want to move to the land of sidewalks & streetcars, when I could have expansive yards and Bellevue Square?
;)</p>
<p>We moved to a fairly quiet blue collar neighborhood in Seattle & my oldest began middle school in a very urban neighborhood ( it was housed in three different buildings blocks apart), which caused a little anxiety- but by the time her sister went to high school in what can only be called * the inner city*, ( for Seattle anyway), I was saying" oh, it isn’t really that bad" :)</p>
<p>The only way I’d go back to my high school would be with gasoline and a match. I don’t even want to think about how horrible my high school years were.</p>
This may be my favorite quote in all my years on CC. Count me as another who’d never go back - I live hundreds of miles away, haven’t kept up with anyone and, though I wish [almost all of] my classmates well, I have no desire to revisit those years in my head, let alone in real life.</p>
<p>I had really good reasons to be unavailable for '10 and '20, though did go to a classmate’s wedding in year 9 and that was a semi reunion. This year was my 30 year, but being 1500 miles away and having a year of medical adventures, I missed it.</p>
<p>I did, however, connect with some old buddies on FB and last spring when visiting that home town, I did lunch with three of them, which was wonderful.</p>
<p>Based on the number of old HS people who have friended me and who I still don’t recall, I am not sure the point of a reunion; I don’t seem to remember any one. I even dug out my albums and whilst some faces are mildly familiar, I don’t recall any details- who they hung out with, what they did, their ECs or crowd…just blank. Perhaps they weren’t really friends and just collect as many FB friends as they can???</p>
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Count me as another who’d never go back - I live hundreds of miles away, haven’t kept up with anyone and, though I wish [almost all of] my classmates well, I have no desire to revisit those years in my head, let alone in real life.</p>