Nothing makes you feel old like a class reunion.
And nothing makes you feel young like a class reunion.
The realization that last time you saw some of these people you were wearing a size 14 in little girl's clothing can make you feel like an old goat. Make that a BIG old goat - one that's now more a size 14 in women's clothing than little girl's clothing. Reunions can be a bit intimidating. In a way, you're right back in junior high, fretting over your appearance and your accomplishments. And in another, you're now an adult who can appreciate what it's taken for each person to get where they are. Among the group at my recent junior high reunion was an IT Technician, an auto manufacturing factory worker, a social worker, a jewelry maker, a stay-at-home mom. I'm proud of all of them. It's great to see each of them happy in the life they've made.
A junior high reunion can also return you to those pre-teen and teen years. What fun it was before we had real responsiblities. Life revolved around being with friends, going to the mall, doing makeovers, listening to music (on those ancient cassette tapes on gigantic boom boxes), going to the movies, meeting boys, talking on the phone, having sleepovers, passing notes in class, spending babysitting money on stickers, make-up and candy bars. I recall the smell of the nearby candy factory (butterscotch, I think) that would flow into our math class, the Tuesday morning tornado drill siren that always went off when we were in Mr. Buckley's social studies class, the horror of having to discect a frog in Mr. K's science lab, how we tormented Ms. T on her first year teaching in public school by placing gummy bears on her seat that would stick to her butt, the serious poetry I wrote about my 12-year-old dating relationships. There were a lot of good memories and diving into them takes you back to those carefree days of your youth.
The recent get-together of a group of junior high classmates made me feel a little old and a little young and a lot happy. :)
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