20 Year High School Reunion!! ~ Friday Night

Updated to add: My mom left this comment about the details of my car...thanks, Mom for the fun history. "The Bug was a 1963. We purchased that VW from a lady in Richland named Dixie Shortess. When we purchased it, it had 50K miles on it. Your dad was going to sell it, when Mike said, "No, I want that for my first car!" Your Dad lovingly restored it to pristine condition and it saw both of you thru school. He purchased that car for $600 in 1976, and sold it in 1998 for $3500." 

 

I can't believe it's been 20 years since I graduated from High school.  I feel really fortunate to have had a great high school experience and I was really looking forward to going back and seeing old friends, catching up and just having fun.  As the time approached I started to feel a little nervous!  I started fussing about what I would wear, and became a little like a teenager again!  So much so, that when I called Dan the day we were leaving he answered his phone and said,

"The gold hoops."

And yet, I told Dan that it was a good reminder about how the kids feel among their peers.  I have found myself lately talking to Matthew about peer pressure and being self assured rather than worried about what his peers think, and here I was, a grown woman completely fussing over this very thing!

I look back on my time in high school and feel really fortunate.  I think I had a great graduating class.  I mentioned that to Dan and he thinks I hold this opinion because I  "really like people and have a high tolerance for them."  I'm not sure...I do like a lot of different types of people, but I still think I had a great class.

I had really good friends in high school, but never really felt like I ran with a specific crowd.  My best friend growing up was a year younger.  I had friends that were cheerleaders with me and some of my best friends had other friends that they spent a lot of time with...I sort of floated around and had a lot of different friends from all different crowds.  And I had a lot of fun.  A little fun "mom history" for the kids....I graduated in 1992 from Richland High School with I believe, 283 students in my graduating class.  When we voted for "Class Favorites" I was nominated for "Most Gullible", "Friendliest", and "Best Dressed."  I won "Best Dressed" ~ but definitely would have been more proud of "Friendliest."  I drove a 1969 (? Correct me if I'm wrong, mom) Volkswagon Bug that your Grandpapa restored.  It was white with red interior (I had tried to convince him to paint it pink), and had a license plate cover that said "Pretty in Pink" (because pink is my favorite color).  It replaced your uncle Mike's, which read, "Chains Required, Whips Optional."  You can see our differences started at an early age. :)  I used to get in trouble for laughing too much in class.  I would get started and could not stop!   I was Cheerleading Captain my senior year, and worked in the "Inquiry Into Science" program at the Hanford area for 3 hours a day during the school week.  I supported an engineering group.  I graduated with a 3.72 GPA ~ which I worked hard to raise after getting too many Bs my freshman year when I transitioned to High school.   I was always so frustrated as I'd get straight As/A-s and then a B+ in something like PE or Art!  I remember arguing with my Art teacher over my grade because I was so irritated that I tried as hard as I could and yet because I was lacking in artistic ability my GPA was lowered.  He didn't share my perspective. :) I was also elected Homecoming Queen, which meant I got to ride on the back of a convertible during the half time of the homecoming football game.  Which is kind of comical.  

Anyway, nervousness was so unnecessary.  I went to the reunion and had a fantastic time.  SO much fun.

Friday night started at "Jackson's" bar.

 

I met up with two of my best friends there.  Ami and Julie.  Both were bridesmaids in our wedding.  I met Ami when we were in elementary school and played softball together.  I didn't like her. :)  She grew on me and has been one of my best friends since Jr. High.  She came over the day my Dad passed away.  I remember her hugging me at the front door and then taking my face in her hands and saying, "You look terrible."  Only a dear friend can say something like that and have you know what they mean.   I'll never forget her bringing bags of food and just sitting with us all day and being a support and a comfort just through her presence.



Whitney is another sweet friend I've kept in touch with through the years.  She's one of the nicest people I have ever known.  We spent a lot of time together at the reunion.  It was so wonderful to see her and we had a great time together, but that's a story for one of the later events.



"GR", Jenn and Pete.  Mom had my kids at a baseball game with a friend of hers and GR's son, Ace that night.  Jenn's Dad was an OB/Gyn and in high school the guys used to love to say, "Rough day at the office today, Dr. Loynd?"  They thought they were soooo funny.  :)  Pete used to call me "small talk" in high school.  I am a total small talker.

I graduated with a lot of really funny people.  These are just a few of them.



Bonnie and Julie.  Bonnie is very sweet ~ I was touched that she came to my Dad's memorial service.



Dan, Jim (wife Amy) and that's Steve "photo bombing" the picture. :)

Jim and Dan went to parochial school together.  They were "CK Kids"  (Christ the King)  Dan knew some of the people from my graduating class either from elementary school or from sports, so he and I were off talking to different people a lot.  It was nice to not have to worry about him and know he was doing just fine. 



Chris was one of my favorite friends from high school and my prom date my senior year  ~ we doubled with Whitney &  GR, above ~ all of us were just friends and had so much fun.  Chris lost touch with a lot of us for many years after he went to Germany following college, but I was glad to see him at the reunion.  He received a stern lecture from me and has since promised to keep in touch.  :)  (For mutual friends reading this who are interested ~ he's now in Colorado with his wife, Amber and son, Jackson, who just turned 5.  He does a lot of hiking/biking and he's going back to school to become a physical therapist).



Julie &  Steve and....



Dan, me and Aimee were the last ones at the bar that night.  We drove Aimee home and sat and talked in the car for quite a while so we ended up not getting home until 3 am!  Aimee (and my friend Dana, who we lost 8 years ago) introduced me to Dan in college.  Aimee was a cheerleader with me, and we have a lot of memories together in high school.  We picked right back up again and had a great time at the reunion.  Aimee is SO funny and witty and is a great match for Dan's banter.

I had such a great time, I went home and could not sleep!  It was hard to settle my mind. 

One of my favorite memories was a girl who came up to me and told me that what she remembered about me from high school was that I was always nice to her.  It was the best compliment of the weekend ~ such a nice thing to say.

It was a great night ~ I talked and talked and didn't really take too many photos but had a fantastic time laughing and catching up with old friends.