ten years later...

Please allow me to set the stage for this one...on the TV in the background is my original DVD copy of the classic teen movie Can't Hardly Wait. I've got a Third Eye Blind pandora station on blast. Next to me on the floor is a box FULL of old photos and keepsakes from my school days. We are stepping back in time people! I couldn't think of a better way to put myself in the right mood to write about my upcoming 10 year high school reunion. So here we go!

The Olentangy class of 2004 was a wild bunch! At our core, we were genuinely a good group of kids. Some of us partied, most of us did stupid shit, and a few of us got into to [big] trouble but we were just kids being kids. What we all had in common was that we all left Olentangy as high school graduates. Some went off to college and some didn't. Some branched out and left Columbus, others didn't. Some of us stayed in touch, some didn't. What does that say about us? What does that say about our experience? Maybe something...maybe nothing...

My high school reunion is next week and I'm getting mixed reviews when I ask people how they feel about it. Some are eager and excited but not many. Most roll their eyes or bitch and moan about how much they're dreading it (but they will still go for fear of missing out.) WOAH... this makes me feel like a total geek! Maybe I'm more excited than I should be but I grew up here, I went to the same school K-12, and for the past five years I've lived a thousand miles away, so for me, my high school reunion represents a long overdue homecoming.

The mixed reviews have me thinking. Are high school reunions becoming obsolete? Are they just another opportunity for us to showcase our amazing lives? Is that a bad thing? I'm not sure. We don't need reunions to be able to catch up anymore because we have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, yada-yada-yada, and if I want to know what someone is doing or contact someone, I can do so pretty easily. Are people less excited for these things because of Facebook?

Well, I still think face-to-face interaction still means something and when it comes to deciding whether or not you will attend your reunion I say YES! Maybe you're not sure if you want to go because you're feeling bad about your current situation. I'm almost 30 and what do I have to show? I need to lose 10lbs! STOP. Everyone wants to put their best selves forward and I get that but guess what? You're probably not the only one feeling "behind in life" and you're certainly not going to be the only one who has gained a smidge of weight. Get over it, go, and enjoy catching up with old pals.

Some people won't want go to prove a point. They may suffer from the "f*ck those homies, they made my life miserable" syndrome. Hey man, its cool! I can relate. I'm not saying I loved EVERYONE in our class either but don't let that stop you from going if you secretly want to.

No matter what your attitude is about your class reunion, go if you can. Throw on some pukka shells, dust off your old Sublime, Everclear, or Dave Matthews albums, and break into your parents liquor cabinet (if you haven't replaced all of it with water.) Let's get together and laugh about all the trouble we got into and remember the days when life was easier. Of course, we didn't think it was easy then but compared to adult life (at times) high school was cake.

Looking forward to catching up, class of 2004!

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