I used to be in charge of my high school reunion committee, because you see, that's what everyone expects of me. As a former cheerleader of S.H. Rider High, it seemed natural for me to inspire everyone to come. Even so and although they depend on me to contact everyone and take charge of each reunion, I don't know if I can take another one.
REUNION 2009: WHAT REUNIONS ARE LIKE AT MID-LIFE
I used to say as if I was joking, "The last time I had fun was 1974," but I'm not joking anymore. They were the best days of my life. That fact seems sad to me, considering the fact that it's now 2009. As hard as it is to admit it, I'm fifty and I still don't have a clue what to do with my life. Do I attend this time, or do I accept that I've arrived at mid-life? Well, okay, so I'm actually fifty-two and will soon be fifty-three. So sue me. The point is that my 35th high school reunion is coming up soon and once again, I'm confused. I don't have a clue what to do about all my reunion issues.
You see, as a grown woman of fifty-two, I've paid my dues and as of today, the price for being the popular girl in school has already been paid. Still, it's as if the moment I step into the reunion room, I feel the need to be seventeen, which means I tend to revert back to the facts of the past. That's probably why they always say I'm the most unchanged.
HIGH SCHOOL HYPE AND THE CHEERLEADER TYPE:
Do you have a clue how hard it is to be a cheerleader type at mid-life? People think the cheerleaders will marry the football star, have one too many kids and everyone assumes that we all get fat. Even so, the fact remains that I'm still not fat today, and by the way, I divorced the football star, of course. Besides, in spite of that fact, all three of my kids turned out to be successful and smart human beings, even though they were all raised by me, the dumb but fun one, who got married at eighteen and became a golf widow by nineteen. So you see, I didn't turn out to be as predictable as they thought of me.
Even so, I know I'll feel disgraced if I go back to that place where everyone expects me to cheer them on, by being the way I used to be, cheerfully dumb and fun. They always assume I'll do something dumb, because you see, I always do. It happens every time and just remembering the past brings the past back to haunt me. It's as if I become a nit wit again, popular but fun and dumb. I'm the dumb blonde, who happens to be brunette, and yet, the dumb part is something they'll never forget. Every dumb blonde joke will be about me which will be pre-determined by the entertainment committee. The stories they tell will all be remembered very well, even if I live to be 103. You see, they tell the same old stories about me every single time, so I have to assume I'll be humiliated again as the cheerleader type in 2009.
They'll remind me of the time I cheated in math, and in fact, I cheated so well that I even copied that smart girl's name at the top of my test page. The teacher thought I'd gone insane and explained, "If you need to cheat, at least use your own name. Otherwise, how can I give you an A" Luckily for me, I never got away with anything as a teen, so every dumb thing I did is documented in print within each and every year book that all 600 of my old classmates bring to the reunions.
In fact, someone always brings a picture of me from 1973, just in case I forgot that day we spent at the lake. You see, a few of us skipped out of school, and like a fool, I decided to streak on water skis. Streaking was a new thing in the 70's, so my friends dared me to do what only the fun and dumb one would do. They even played the song, "Born to be Wild," on the boat's eight track tape to make me brave, and the fact remains that I was courageously having the time of my life, only to be seen by the most prominent citizen of the community. The guy was fishing by a cove, but I didn't know, so I sprayed him with the wake of my ride as I passed by.
Needless to say, in my small hometown, the word got around, but not before my friends snapped a dozen pictures of me, as naked as I could be on water skis. So you see, unless I agree to be in charge of the reunion committee, that day will live in infamy for me.
SPIRIT AND PRIDE FOREVERMORE: SENIOR CLASS OF 74
What I wrote above is a yell I remember well, because you see, in my old high school days, we all had a phrase to say at each and every pep-rally. A tradition so to speak, it was our way to claim who were and what we intended to be. That's why I typed the spirit and pride of our class yell in big bold print. It's my way to document in print the fact that I made up that yell myself in 1974, just in case my classmates care to remember me anymore You see, the spirit of me within that yell gave them all those stories they tell so well, but the facts don't remain the same. The fact remains that I'm not as young and dumb as I used to be, and as a matter of fact, I was never as dumb as they believed me to be. It was just more fun to play dumb than it was to study. Still, every time I try to be the old me at each reunion, I end up giving them a new and improved dumb and fun story to tell.
You see, as of today, I've seen better days, but they all came in the 70's, for heaven's sake. That's why I need my old classmates to give me a break. Yes, I know. It was a long time ago, but time flies when you're trying to survive decades of time, waiting to have fun, just one more time. Please allow me to be me and have fun without assuming I'm dumb. I know that everyone has their day in the sun, but every time I go to my reunions, why am I reminded that my day in the sun is over and done? What was fun in 1974 isn't fun anymore, at least not for me.
REMEMBER THIS REUNION TIP: WHAT YOU RESIST WILL PERSIST
Do you have a clue how strange it is to walk into a room where 600 human beings are all fifty-two, like you? What do you do at fifty-two? What do you say and how do you behave? Old habits die hard, believe me. I hope it won't be like the last reunion when I fell flat on my face the moment I stepped into the place. Can you imagine the impression I made?
I don't know why, but it's an issue for me to be fifty-two and although I know everyone else will be fifty-two too, to me everyone in the room will always be seventeen. It doesn't make sense to me that we will all arrive in the same place but not one of us will have the same face. I'm blind enough without having to read a stupid name tag to see who that bald guy used to be, but what if no one remembers me? What will I do if no one has a clue who I used to be? That would be a rude awakening, because you see, I used to be the epitome of popularity. It's true, but maybe that's why I always do dumb things, accidentally. Maybe it's a subconscious way to keep that old spirit and pride of 74 stronger than ever before. Maybe that's why at the last reunion, I accidentally fell flat on my face in the first place.
You see, Kelly is an old classmate who was standing behind me when she and I walked into the big ball room at the Hilton Hotel where our last reunion was held. I was glancing around the room and when I spotted a classmate, I spun around to wave and smacked into Kelly's face. We hit so hard that I almost broke my nose, so I bent down and that's when I tripped on Kelly's feet and we ended up on the cold marble floor in a heap. That fact, I'm sure will be the new story they'll tell about me this time, in 2009, so you see, if you choose to resist the fact that nothing stays the same, you'll make the same mistakes you always made as some kind of unintentional way to prove it's true what they say about you. Don't resist your age and high school won't need to remain your hay day.
TO CONCLUDE: MY NEW REUNION VIEWS
Okay, so maybe I'll go to the reunion again, and once again, I'll be who I've always been, even when they repeat those same old stories. After all, some things never change and the fact remains that I still feel as young and fun as I used to be at seventeen. Even so and although I played those roles well, I do have new stories to tell. That's why l refuse to be the dumb one this time in 2009. Maybe the cheerleader I used to be can inspire them to see me through my new and improved wisdom. Stranger things have happened to me.
If I can do that, maybe I won't be the brunt of all those dumb blonde jokes, which of course will mean I'll no longer hold the tile of, "Miss Congeniality." So maybe they won't name me as, "The most unchanged." That's okay, because you see, I've paid the price for those old roles I played, and besides, I've been the cheerleader type all my life. That's why I've earned the right to have fun again, like I did back then, and if I can believe it's true, maybe I'll have fun before and after the reunion too. It's high time I put high school aside. Besides, 1974 doesn't need to be the last time I had fun anymore.