Been There, Done That, Got the T Shirt

Friends having lunch

Rich and I ready to leave for the reunion

This weekend has been a whirlwind for me. I have been stressing for the last month about attending my 40th high school reunion. I think I only went to one other one probably the 10 year and I remember thinking how "not fun" it was. As we were driving in the car my husband said, "I just hate getting old." I said, well you have a choice between getting old or dieing so take your pick." High school is hard for lots of kids, I know it was for me. I had tons of friends in grade school but as I got ready to move on to high school most of my friends decided to start doing things I had been taught to avoid, so it was time to find some new friends which I did. I was an athlete, not a cheerleader, dancer, or a scholar. On Friday night we went to the reunion which was held at the zoo. Yes, really, at the Phoenix Zoo. We picked up my sister and her husband Larry and we hiked into the zoo in our darling attire. We were sent to a place called Ruby's Place. As we got closer we could hear lots of laughter so on we went up the hill in the dirt to a dark crowded place and picked up our name tags and tickets to get our two complimentary drinks. I couldn't see anyone because there was so little light and those I did see I didn't recognize. I felt so bad when people would come up to me and I could not for the life of me figure out who they were. I didn't even do drugs in high school so I don't have an excuse. We finally did find some of my friends and we spent the rest of the evening just sitting and talking about old times. We left at about ten and hiked back down to our car where I almost started to cry. Sitting on a cement barrier for two hours had made my hip feel like it would explode. But we got home and after a few Aleve, Tylenol and Advil we went to bed. Saturday was fun as I met four good friends from school for lunch and we reminisced for three hours. I finally said, "I need to go home and get a nap before the big party tonight." After my nap it was time to get in the shower and get really gussied up for the main part of the reunion. Friday night was just a warm up, "a meet and greet", but sat. was the real deal. After spending two hours getting ready we headed over to get Mell and Larry and off to the zoo we went. This time we got to go into a different part of the zoo which actually had lights so we could see who we were talking to. We sat at a table with the same friends I went to lunch with. We ate Mexican food, which Rich thought was the worst he had ever had, I didn't think it was that bad. We saw who we wanted to see and left at around 9 p.m. They had a band and alcohol but since we don't dance or drink it was time to go home. As we were leaving there were some girls there from the class of 2012 selling T shirts and key chains. I bought one of the shirts that says, "CORONADO ALUMNI Forever a Don" on the back. I just had to help the kids of tomorrow in a small way. As Rich and I went walking out of the zoo arm in arm I said, "I can really say I've been there, done that and got the T shirt." All in all I'm glad I went. It is so out of character for me to put myself in a situation with hundreds of people that I don't know in a social situation. I was so proud of myself for going out of my comfort zone and doing something that was really hard for me. As we were driving home I realized how much I have changed since Kamber's passing. I would normally be too self conscious and embarrassed to show up knowing that I don't look like I did in high school anymore. Most of the people there didn't. But I know what HELL is now and going to my high school reunion wasn't as bad as losing a grandchild, and I survived. I'm happy for that. I still don't know if I will be willing to attend my 50th, oh well I have ten years to worry about that!

Mell and I at the entrance to the Zoo