I guess, with Covid-19 continuing to be a problem1, a lot of class reunions will likely be canceled, depriving many people who graduated 25, 30, 40, 50 etc. years ago of seeing their friends from high school (or college) and catching up with them. They won’t have a chance to see who got fat, who lost their hair, who’s been married, divorced, had children, had surgery, had cosmetic surgery2, is ill, and who has died.
Sure, it’s a fun party, but to hear some people talk about it, it’s the biggest pain in the neck getting ready for it. My question is, if it’s that much trouble, why do it?
Seriously: when you graduated high school3, wasn’t the last thing on your mind continuing to see the people you couldn’t stand when you were in class together? If they were insufferable at 18, what makes you think they won’t be insufferable at 38? If they hated you then, what are the chances that they won’t hate you now? Slim, fat, and no.
If there’s one good thing about social media, it’s that you have a chance to see the people you knew back then without having to actually speak face-to-face with them. I stumbled into a group on Facebook that was for the Class of 1974 from my alma mater, New Trier West High School4 in beautiful Northfield, Illinois.
I saw a few people I hung out with back then, chatted with them briefly, caught up with who had died (close to 10% of my graduating class), then logged off Facebook and haven’t been back. That was more than enough for people I hadn’t seen in 40+ years. (I do have a couple of friends from high school, but we don’t need a reunion to stay in touch.)
Your experience might be different. I didn’t have an especially good time in high school, but maybe you did. Maybe you like to see people you’d lost touch with and renew old friendships. If so, mazel tov. The point is, no one should feel they have to attend their reunion.
- I wrote this at the beginning of April. Barring a miracle, we’re probably still in self-quarantine.
- Especially bad cosmetic surgery.
- Or college, or whatever the equivalent is where you live.
- There were two high schools in the district, East and West. A few years after I graduated, enrollment had dropped to where they could condense all the students into one school, which happened to be East. The West campus was vacant and used as a backdrop in John Hughes’s movie Uncle Buck. Enrollment returned to a level where all the students could no longer fit in East, so they reopened West as a “freshman” campus.
The Sound of One Hand Typing 
John,
I’ve not attended any of my high school reunions but we did go to two of DH’s. They were kinda fun, mostly seeing how much people have changed. I’m not interested in going to any in the future. I can keep up with my closest friends on FB which doesn’t cost me anything to do. Sorry for falling behind on the A2Z visits.
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You sound like B. His class still meets at 5 year intervals but he’s never gone and never will. My class doesn’t do that but I wouldn’t mind going. Not enough to get people together and plan anything but if someone else did I might go.
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We have plenty of people willing to set the thing up, but even so, I want to leave high school as far behind me as I can.
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Zoom reunions may become the norm if lockdowns continue! Thanks for visiting my blog.
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They might become the norm even if they don’t…
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I am now sheltering in the town of my youth and high school days. I am grateful to have a few connections with people here, that developed after our 40th reunion. Some are people who weren’t close friends during high school.
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Interesting how that works out. I heard from a girl I don’t think I ever met when we were in school, though she was one of the most popular girls in the class (very pretty, cheerleader, you know the drill).
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My 50th high school reunion was last year. I had intended on going, but eventually decided it would be too expensive for me to go. After hearing the reports about the reunion I was glad I didn’t spend that money as it didn’t seem to be overwhelmingly great. I would definitely had gone if I had lived closer to TN, but spending a thousand or more dollars just didn’t seem warranted enough for my presences there. Maybe I’ll make it to the 60th reunion.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
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I think reunions are a letdown for most people. I’m a few years away from my 50th reunion, and sometimes I wonder if I’ll actually make it that long…
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The last reunion I went to was the 40th and it was a pretty good one, lasting 3 days. I was part of the organization committee, which surprised me because I was not a “popular” girl in high school. There were still a few clicks and snobby people but I was actually surprised by the number of people who even remembered who I was.
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If you weren’t one of the popular kids, how did you end up on the organization committee? Just curious.
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Beats me! Probably because the popular kids didn’t want to do it – LOL. Too much work.
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Although I attended many large schools growing up, I ended up graduating from a very small high school. Our graduating class felt like family. We’ve had two reunions over the years, but mostly we all try to meet up for lunch once or twice a year at a restaurant that tolerates our loud selves and lets us monopolize the banquet room for hours on end.
I realize my situation is unusual. Even other small classes that graduated from that school, marvel at how my class has stayed in touch (and a few of them and even some of our old teachers occasionally join us).
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The company I used to work for has a semiannual event at a pizza place for all of us “alumni.”
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Hmmm, this year would be my 56th high school reunion. I have never been to a high school or college reunion and never plan to go to one. High school, especially, was not a high point of my life. I have run into people over the years but the only one I stayed in touch with for any length of time was my 97 year old high school Spanish teacher who i met through my blog.
Finding Eliza
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I think a lot of people resolved never to see their classmates after graduation.
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I didn’t even resolve, just put them right out of my mind.
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I never went to high school or college reunions. I stayed in touch with some of my college pals for a while but it slacked off. I have no desire to travel hundreds of miles to go to a reunion.
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Same here. I didn’t want to see them when I was in high school; why would I want to see them now?
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Ughh…I have no desire to go to a high school reunion because I was so bullied. There are a few I would like to see and I hope that some that were so mean, that they are fat and bald and I am talking about the women. Actually, I don’t really mean that but I just don’t care to see them. I like to move forward, not backward.
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Hard not to be bitter sometimes. Sometimes I think that the best part of high school was leaving it behibd.
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This photo seems to be from the last century to me! No more gatherings, no more celebrations. I don’t miss the type of gathering you are talking about, like you I don’t need this to stay in touch with friends ;)
U is for Unique Style
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Exactly…
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