When it was time for my 10 year high school reunion, I was living a scant 70 miles away. The town was small and there was really only one venue that was interested in hosting the affair. The venue had hosted affairs for many different groups over the years, including some with which I was involved.

In a small town, with three junior high schools, (that's what we called them then,) you theoretically knew about one third of the kids before you went onto high school. There were others that you had probably met at little league, in a dance class, or summer school.

We had had a five year reunion, but just a year or so out of college and no earth shattering news to report, I did not go to that one. Plus, I was still in touch with anyone who was important to me. How many times can you tell someone that you just got a job at 7-11. (That was how things were for social science majors in the mid-1970's.)

The first one I went dateless, as did many people. I saw many old friends, though how many friends do you really have in school? We regaled each other in most of the stories that we hadn't told them in phone conversations, or letters. Some of the people we just knew casually and a quick hello, how are you doing was the only thing we said to each other all evening. There were even some people that I could not remember their names.

It was a good evening and I went home to spend the night at my mother's house in another part of the small town.

Another 10 years passed and we had another reunion. This time I took a date, a good friend from the city in which I was living. It was the 20th and though I have no research evidence to prove it, it is probably the one that is most heavily attended. To my surprise one young man who I had known since junior high came all the way from Texas, he said, just to see me. That was rather flattering. He didn't even graduate with us, having moved to Texas the year before graduation. By that time, I was on the verge of securing a career in teaching, which was a hard fight. More of the same, talking to those who mattered and ignoring others who didn't. I had gained a little weight, had started to get a little gray in the full beard I was sporting at the time. There even people that were all gray. They were just 36-37-38 years old.

Though the numbers decreased each time around , about 400 people showed up to the 30th, held at the same venue as the 10th. (I told you the town was small.) Many of the same people, many of the same stories floated around the room. I told my date that it was her job to see if I was the grayest and the weightiest there. She told me later that I wasn't even close. I did reconnect with some guys whom which I had gone to junior high. They had never been to a reunion before. It was really fun. I found out at that one, that one girl had a crush on me in high school, but never had the nerve to act on it. She was now long married, with children, so...

The 30th was a total blast, the best of them all. My date and I and another couple closed the place about 1:30. It was good. It may have been the last blowout to a group of kids that will be facing their late 50's by the time a 40th reunion could come around in 2012. A little part of me will miss events like this, another part of me will say it's OK.

Learn more about this author, Tom Ontis.
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