Leftover Ink: Class Reunion, Part 2 of 3

As with most, it’s a tale of loving reunions and strange awkwardness, but mostly it’s just a tale of a hundred something thirty-somethings reunited after a long absence.

Movies and television have prepared us for class reunions with the idea that everyone is completely different and that there’s a distance that’s grown over time. Maybe it’s true for others, but not in my experience. For me, I was simply surprised at how easily everyone fit back together and the ease of familiarity even among those not particularly close at the time.

I found myself just staring at people—lost in remembering who they were, and the experiences we all shared. Each time, it started with 1) I know that person, 2) Now, who are they?, 3) they look exactly the same. After that, there was the inevitable handshake or hug—depending on how close we were at the time. With too many people, we had to settle for a handshake and a “let’s catch up after…”

For those locals, if I said, “Let’s catch up for lunch or a beer,”  I really did mean it.

No other group of people in the world share the memories of Mr. Boneski striding up and down the hallways, or the junior-year scandal in the English Department. We all remember Heidi’s new-wave graduation speech and slow-dancing to “Forever Young” at prom.

No longer particularly young, we did do a lot of dancing—as you’d expect, the 1980s ruled again with Cyndi Lauper, Guns n’ Roses and a vast array of Bon Jovi and Paula Abdul. Largely a collection of those married, and most with children, the dance floor lay fallow for most of the evening. However, when the cash bar tipping point was reached, half the class dived onto the dance floor to shake it for Sir Mix-a-Lot. With Kelle and Kim leading the way, things got rowdy pretty quickly. Eric, Mike and Brian were consistently out on the dance floor and Peggi (least likely a lobbyist) was calling the shots again.

Most of those who brought their spouses to the reunion were eventually shuffled away early, but the party went on.

There were the laments over those who weren’t able to make it. Noelle is still in Alaska and Rachel is still in Hawaii. I imagine Frankie is just tired of people asking him why he isn’t playing guitar anymore, and Jody has apparently disappeared.

Of course, the biggest pull on the heartstrings was the table with memorabilia of those classmates who didn’t live to see the 20-year reunion. It was a larger list than I would have imagined, and the single candle sitting on the table by their photos was more touching than I can say. We had a drink in their memory, and for most of us, had more than one.

In the line at the bar, I also ran in to Deborah, who as my next-door neighbor was probably my first friend. While we all waxed nostalgic over Park View, there were also those of us waxing nostalgic over the Sully Elementary. There were a bunch of Sully Super-Star graduates there too.

To Be Continued…

-John L. Geddie