Party Like It's 1989

Prom night, 1989. I'm still mad at Scott for not kissing me that night.

Scott and I did party this weekend, and if it were 1989 and I were 17, I wouldn't be so wiped out! We watched 17 Again last week to get us in the 1989 mindset for our 20th high school reunion. It's so funny to revisit the big hair and Esprit and Bennetton clothing, although I largely escaped the big hair epidemic through laziness and impatience. Ponytails were my thing then as they are now. Scott's hair, through no fault of its own, was bigger than all the girls' combined! His thick, wavy locks may have been one of the reasons I fell in love with him. Looking at his dome now, it's a good thing there were other reasons too!

The reunion: Friday night was the family-oriented potluck at the park, followed by a midnight showing of Ferris Bueller's Day Off at the Kaysville Theater. (So funny...the crowd knew all the lines. "Bueller?...Bueller?..."Scott didn't get home until 3:30 am) Anyway, when I pulled up to the park in my minivan full of kids, I looked over the crowd and thought, "This couldn't be us. These people are old!" I caught myself and laughed. Was I expecting everyone to look the same? As I began to mingle, I felt a surge of love for all these men and women who shared my childhood. Some of them were in my kindergarten class. Why that fact alone engenders so much love for a virtual stranger, I don't know. Maybe it's that when you remember a guy when he was four feet tall with long, thick hair and a size 6X Burton Bulldogs t-shirt, you can't help but love him! It was great fun to catch up with some of the characters that inhabited my youth. From what I could tell, everyone did OK for themselves. They have good jobs, great spouses, cute kids. On the other hand, we have all been kicked around by life a little bit. Divorce, death, changing expectations. Maybe we're more humble and realistic than we were at the ten year reunion, and more aware than we were in high school that we're all in this together.

Saturday night we all met at dear old Davis High School for dinner and socializing. I came away with a comforting satisfaction that there are friends out there, close by and far away, who share my memories, who forgive my youthful blunders, who, not having spoken with me for ten or more years, would stand by me if necessary. I'm sure of that. It was so good to reconnect. I love you all, whether you know it or not.