Back to the Future

Well friends, Friday was the big night. The 20 year reunion. I got all dolled up in my "dressy casual" duds and actually put make up on for the night. (I took a picture to proove it - my face looks like it's a ripe tomato but I think it's because I was in some weird light.) I passed inspection from my daughter ("Gosh mom - you have a lot of eye makeup on tonight.") and had Brad give me the ok that my panty lines weren't showing through my new pants, and like Cinderella in her magical mini-van, I was off to travel back in time.

The gala event was at a NW Portland hot spot called Uptown Billiards, and boy was it - hot, I mean. The joint is on the second floor and there was absolutely NO air conditioning or ventillation in that place. I had walked a good 12 blocks in my party clothes and after about 10 minutes of initial visiting and hugs with old friends, I could feel the sweat starting to roll down my back and my carefully applied makeup starting to liquify on my face. After my first over-priced glass of wine, I offered to give my two friends a ride home so they wouldn't have to take a cab at the end of the evening and I was so grateful to have a reason to keep ordering ice waters from the bar from the rest of the night. The bartender would scowl at me each time, but hey, I was the designated driver, how could he refuse me? (Besides that, I think I sweat off about 5 pounds that night!)

It was great connecting with old friends. One of the gals in my previous post, the one whose mom taught us to dance to the oldies in their living room was there. J. lives with her husband and two kids in Australia and she flew in for the event. We had a great time catching up and showing off pictures of the kids. That's her with her eyes closed in this picture: There were others that it was fun to chat with. There was the boy who grew up down the street from me and whose little weiner dog used to chase me everytime I'd ride by his house. He came to the reunion reluctantly at the urging of one of his friends (they were camping with their families and left the campgrounds to come for the evening). There was an old friend who married an absolutly darling gal and I can't wait to have them come over for dinner soon. And there was the absolutely terrifying and wonderful experience of chatting with a fellow classmate that now is the East Coast Editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. We didn't really "hang out" together in school but she was always nice and hung with some of the more popular kids. She chatted in a very humble and gracious way about her work when I asked her about it and I just was so excited to have the chance to talk with someone who is in the "writing" business. I didn't tell her about my rekindled interest in writing but I'm thinking about just sending her a note to say how nice it was to chat with her - a bit of a brush with writing celebrety and a pleasant one at that.

And then there were the strange and freaky parts of the night. The handsome guy in this picture - I have no idea who he is or was. He's so cute - how could I have not noticed him? He was really nice and said he remembered me - could I have had some snob in me back then? There was the cheerleader who never said a word to me in school who came up to me at the reunion and said, "OH MY GOD! IT'S YOU!" and proceeded to hug me. Confused I said, "Hi, C. It's great to see you again." I thought, She must have me confused with someone else. So I carefully turned my left side to her so she had clear sight of my photo nametag, the one with your senior picture on it and your maiden name on it so she would surely see she had mistaken me for someone else. "I remember you!" She said loudly poking me in the nametag. "Oh, I've been wanting to do that all night to someone." So I was your pick? Someone you never talked to in High School? I sat there stunned and thought, someone's been hitting the bar tonight. We had a meaningless three mintue conversation and then she moved on. Later, I read in her bio that one of the highlights of her life had been when she rededicated her life to Jesus. Go figure. I thought she was drunk on the froo-froo drinks - who would have thought that she was just one of those obnoxious Christians! (Disclaimer - do not send me hate email, I can say that because I AM an obnoxious Christian! Kind of like when African-Americans call each other the n-word. She's one of my kind, I can dis her and it doesn't count. So don't ya'll come after me. But puhleezz, don't get any ideas that I'm a charasmatic, sweet and sappy, huggin' perfect stranger kind of Christian. I'm much more of the broody, reserved, back row, polite hand clapping kind of Christian. Judge me as you will, just don't expect me to greet you with a holy hug and kiss like I swear this chick just might have if she'd been so inclined.)

And the big question, yes the loose girls still wore their clothes tight and drank too much. A couple of them obviously dissed me when I was talking with my friend, the former student body president and football hero who is one of the few people I keep in touch with. I don't think they realized that I was better friends with him than they ever were in high school. They walked up to us and started talking to my friend, obviously cutting me out of the conversation. Rather than get upset, I just smiled at my friend as he gave me the "HELP" look in his eyes, and I said, "I'll catch you later!" The party boys threw back their share from the bottles behind the bar and the pretty, homecoming princessess were still skinny and gorgeous in their designer duds. The "hotties" were still good looking, but some were obviously tortured and troubled and unhappy souls and the years of the wild life showed in their eyes. But for the most part everyone was excited to be there and willing to chat with anyone and talk about their families. That was the one thing that suprised me but maybe it was because I talked with more of the girls than the guys. Very few people asked what I did for work but they almost all wanted to know about my family. It was a great gift as I always enjoy talking about my family and I don't always enjoy talking about my work. Overall it was a great (but seriously overpriced) night filled with interesting characters and conversations. I'd definitely recommend this kind of a short trip down memory lane every few years, but I for sure wouldn't want to stay long!