We were the class of '90 - proud that we had earned that cool number to chant in pep rallies, and proud of ourselves as a class. We endured a tragic death of the brother of one of our own classmates, the brother that died being just a year behind us - and stood strong leading the high school through that tragedy during our senior year.
In the class of '90, the "cool kids" were nice to most everyone - with "popular" being a loose term and "respected" being something more people actually cared about. Teachers through the years would tell us again and again how much they loved our class, and I guess we might have taken it for granted if not for the fact that we felt it, and we appreciated it.
At the ten year reunion, I watched the "top jock" - the "Zac Efron" of our high school heartily embrace the guy more known for being the "kid in the band" - and I recognized, yes, nothing has changed.
Many of the folks returning today for the reunion, all actually hale from the same elementary school (notably, the two I referred to in the above paragraph, hence the common bond). If you were to actually base it off of percentages, our little 30-count class from Mohawk Elementary probably has the most returnees to this reunion (compared to the other elementary schools that fed into our high school). Yes, I know I am biased, but I think there was a huge bond with all of us. And, of course, as we converged with other schools, it seemed apparent that the other kids felt that same caring towards their classmates too.
With all of that said, though - I did find myself dreading today. Not so much to "look or act right" - (after the 10 year reunion, you kind of get that all out of your system), but dreading the inevitable "small talk" with so many people. I am person who wants to dive deep, so talking about the weather is a bit of stretcher if it goes on too long. However, after having just returned from the family picnic, I'm in a stellar mood, and quite looking forward to the more formal dinner and dance tonight. I feel like I just scratched the service with some of these buddies, and look forward to longer conversations and lots more laughter - not to mention meeting up with some of the folks who didn't make it to this afternoon's event, but plan on coming tonight.
Of course, more pictures to come after the dinner/dance - but here's some that John snapped, just to scratch the surface.
This picture marks a group with a special bond - we all started out as Camp Fire girls....no comment on how long some of us continued on that path..... =)
The gentleman next to Michele is Shane - who's now my buddy on Facebook and has actually linked to this blog, so I ought to be careful what I say about him. =) Nah, actually, he was Michele's first boyfriend, back in 6th grade. Michele had us all laughing as she retold the story to him that she now tells to all of her middle school students about how he broke up with her on Valentine's Day. The gentleman standing next to me is Loren. He was actually my date for prom my junior year. It's good to know we had such outstanding taste back then, because these guys have grown up to be total class acts.....
Standing next to me is Katrina, who was our A-Number 1 best friend through elementary school. We have many memories of many adventures and overnighters together. Standing next to Michele is Robyn - who we were friends with once we converged in middle school - all the way though our years at Western Oregon University. In fact, Michele "set her up" with her husband who was, at one time, the high school pastor at their church. Robyn and I shared the distinction of "making the dance team" our senior year, so that was a very bonding experience for us, as I think both of us thought it was a bit of an unattainable dream (at least I did). I suspect the four of us will be doing a lot of laughing tonight......
The last picture of this post shows us with our fellow twin-buddies - Kari and Kristi. They are supposedly fraternal like we are, but look and act so much alike. On one crazy evening, we went to the movies together, to watch a movie starring Danny Devito and Arnold Shwarzenagger in which they were two sets of twins supposedly mismatched at birth. Following that same silly thread, we walked into the theater pretending we were twins with each other, and then upon spotting the "other set of look-alikes" made a big production of finding each other..... Super silly, I know - but we had fun!
Alright, off to get ready for tonight.......!
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