My Almost High School Reunion

We all get these notifications from our former high school friends, come to the reunion. This time I waffled about attending because it was billed as “the last reunion we will probably have.” Sounded ominous and foreboding. I was a bit put off.

To put this in historical perspective, I did go to the first, the 5 year reunion and the second reunion, the 20th year reunion. Everyone looked pretty much the same at the 5 year reunion. One man paid particular attention to me at the first reunion and later followed up with a letter telling me how he had always had a crush on me. (Wow! But he never asked me out when we were in school. Who knew?) He wanted to take me for dinner. Imagine my surprise when I looked at the contact sheet provided and found out that he was married. Needless to say I did not follow up.

I went to the 20th reunion and had a hard time recognizing people. Please know that my high school was quite large and was the combination of two towns. Frankly, the only people I really cared about were the people that I went to grammar school with but I am pulling myself off subject here….

So back to the story thread: I got the original email for this latest “possibly last” reunion for this October. I also got a follow up email from Anne, a woman with whom I had gone to grammar school, junior high and high school with. Anne lived down the street from me. She was asking me to come. I wrote back and said no, thank you.

I remembered that when I went to the last reunion, the 20th one, I went by myself. The reunion spanned 1 ½ days. I had gotten nudgy, not a good feeling. I ended up listening politely to long stories about what my classmates had done. Some of the stories were quite impressive. Lots of doctors, teachers, a sprinkling of lawyers and one or two titans of business. No one else was in advertising sales, television and internet, which is where I had my career.

When I left that last reunion as I came back home on the train, I told myself, no more reunions. This was reinforced because I never heard from my former classmates and that was fine.

So here we are with the invitation to this “last” reunion. I initially said no and then reconsidered after getting a long email from the organizing group. I decided to go.

I figured out how to get there by mass transit. I figured how to Uber out early if I got nudgy, my escape plan. It was a brunch and that was fine. I even got my haircut. (It needed it anyway.) That’s when the turmoil started……

Anne told me the check never arrived. The man, also an organizer wrote a long email urging me for the money and an explanation. What had happened? I figured it out. I must have been ambivalent because I wrote the check to him but mailed it to the restaurant! I unknowingly had self-sabotaged the whole mess!

So what did I do? I did the right thing. I got my banker to do a stop payment on the check, I wrote an explanation of what happened to all involved, calling it my mistake. I wished them a fun reunion. I decided not to go.

That is what my heart had been telling me all along. I did not want to look backwards. I want to look forward. I wish all my former classmates well and hope they have a good time. Group reunions just aren’t for me. I do better one on one. I will ask if any members of my grammar school class attended…..

And that is my story. Did you go to your reunions? How was it? Tell us more at NGoldInteractive@gmail.com

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