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I attended one recently. Well, you can do the math...I graduated in 1981...so yes, that made it my 25-yr. class reunion. I can hardly believe it's been that long! Although, admittedly I am a 43-years-young divorced mother of 3, I feel I still possess the fun-loving spirit of someone in my early 20's.
As the big weekend of the reunion approached, I started to think about what I would wear, whether or not to take a date, which former classmates I would sit with and so forth. And I thought about whether or not I would even be recognized, or what I would be remembered for once someone DID recognize me. After all, my hair which was much shorter and dark brown back in the '80's is now very long and blonde (the work of my cosmetologist daughter!), and I've also been working out intensely at the gym with a personal trainer over the last 2 years. I happened to bump into an old female classmate at the gas station one day about a month before the event. I found out she too is divorced with children and another of our female classmates, a close friend of hers is as well, so we all decided to attend without a date, and sit together.
 The night of the reunion had arrived, and it was with much enthusiasm and anticipation that I prepared to go. I wondered on my drive there...how many members of my class of 500-plus would be there and what would everybody look like, etc.? I thought about all my favorite bands & songs back then...Blondie, Foreigner, Billy Joel, Amii Stewart, The Knack, Heart, Hall & Oates, Air Supply, Sheena Easton, Donna Summer, The Commodores and more. What nostalgic feelings those artists' songs would conjure up for us all if only the hired djay would have enough forethought to play them!
When I arrived at the country club in my hometown that evening, I started to feel a bit confused as I walked up the beautifully decorated stairway to the main hall. I didn't recognize anyone!! I almost turned around to leave, thinking surely I must be at the wrong place...After all, these people were much too OLD to be my classmates! ha Then I looked a little closer into each of their faces...and sure enough, once I looked past the bald heads, graying hair, and the added girth, I recognized them after all! We enjoyed cocktails and a nice buffet as we got caught up in conversation and memories throughout the night. Some of the same old cliques still seemed to gather, just as if it was still a day in 1981!
One guy who I did not recognize for the life of me caught my eye, and as he approached, I struggled to figure out who HE was, but he said, "Amy? McLane ?" I said "yes!" and "I'm sorry, I just can't place you...can you help me out?? " He was "Mike", the little, skinny, geeky guy who played trumpet in the band back in the day, who now suddenly turned into quite a handsome & well-built guy! Who would have ever thought? And some of the extremely popular girls back then...well, they seem to have gotten only MORE gorgeous over the years...in fact stunningly beautiful. Our homecoming queen, a friend of mine, while beautiful on the outside back then, was always an even more beautiful person on the inside. It was great to see her again and to discover that she is now a missionary married to a pastor, evangelizing throughout the world, in Albania and other parts of the globe. It was fun discussing our children and their ages and interests. Interesting too, to find out how many of the offspring had followed in their parents' footsteps...becoming doctors, or tennis players, etc.
So people remembered me for the things I thought they might...playing the flute and being on the air on our high school radio station. Only now I discovered that so many had heard me on the airwaves of commercial radio stations too and had followed my voice throughout the 25 years on various radio stations in central PA.
What a great time I had! So much that now I'm just really looking forward to the next one..the 30-year! My children are ages 23, 20 and 15...so who knows?? I may just be someone's Mother-in-law by then, or maybe even...a grandmother!
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