Thursday, April 16, 2009

Nostalgia


I just found out that my high school reunion is taking place on Saturday, May 2. And I can't swing a trip back to St. Louis that weekend for a number of reasons including money, work commitments, and general ambivalence about seeing my former classmates.


I went to my five-year reunion, mostly because they held it over Thanksgiving and I was in town anyway and had nothing better to do. Also, I felt reasonably confident that I looked better than I did back in 1999, when I had bangs and was 10 lbs. heavier.


From Facebook, I have ascertained that my status as unmarried and childless puts me in the minority. Which means reunion would probably make me feel both liberated (HA HA, I can still sleep around!) and depressed (Shit. I can still sleep around).


It might be helpful to provide some context about
where I went to high school and what I was like back then. Buckle your seatbelts, because we're blasting off to my WASPy suburban past!

Remember the prom?

I remember mine. All four of them. I was kind of a prom whore. Or maybe I was just into older guys -- prom is for juniors and seniors, but both my freshman and sophomore years, I was dating a junior (not the same one; see above whore reference).

I love how awkward my date and I look in the above photo. You can see the pain behind our eyes. And look at how we're holding hands. So awkward. Incidentally, this guy, Tim, is now a successful
stunt man in L.A. He looks better now too. At our five-year reunion, which he could not attend, I tried to convince people that he had invented Netflix and was a millionaire.

Anyway, high school. I didn't love it -- my school, MICDS, was very blue-blood old school conservative. There was a strict dress code: guys in coats and ties, girls in skirts, dresses, or "nice" pants (i.e. no jeans). We also couldn't wear open-backed shoes (like flip-flops or clogs) or anything with spaghetti straps. Skirts had to be no more than 3" above the knee.

I flew under the social radar for most of high school -- I think most people thought of me as That Theatre Girl. I wasn't hated or gossiped about; I was inconsequential. I didn't drink or smoke pot and I got good grades. I was terrible at sports. I dated theatre geeks, mainly. Not guys who looked like this:

Is it pathetic to admit I still remember all these guys' names (Dustin, Henry, Kevin) and doubt if they would be able to pick me out of a line-up?

But high school wasn't all bad. I had some good friends, some great teachers, and senior year, I wrote poetry for the first time (well, not counting the poem I wrote about the rainforest in 5th grade or the haiku I penned after the untimely death of my cat, Misty).

So maybe I am a little bit sad that I won't get to stroll down memory lane on May 2. But on the flip side, at least now I don't have go on a crash diet or agonize over what to wear.

3 comments:

Timothy Eulich said...

Amazing blog entry. I love that picture of us. My 70's tuxedo seemed like such a cool idea at the time. You failed to mention that although we did go home together after senior prom, we were not actually prom dates. You went with some other dude and my date ended up being in rehab that night. We rule.

kgagne said...

Try this -- and hope someone notices.

Toujours Delish said...

Holy shit. I love this. I have some weird feelings about the place too. I don't think I realized it was as crazy blue-blood and conservative as it was until I left and saw the world.
And man, what would we have done without theatre? I still shiver at the sight of a hockey stick. Ugh.
I did not go to my 10 year. And now facebook almost seems to render it unnecessary. If you already know what everyone is up to and what they look like, then who cares?
We can toast to your reunion next time we meet.
Sincerely - Caiparinhacuck