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FIFTY-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION

I went to my fiftieth year high school reunion last week-end. What a blast from the past. It was quite an experience. It was wonderful to see everyone again. We have been having these reunions every year since 2001. Prior to that, we had one 20-year one and then another after 36 years, then the one in 2001 which was to celebrate 42 years. Some of the attendees this year have not been since the 20-year reunion so it was especially good to see them again.

One such attendee was a guy I had a big crush on in high school. His name is Alan. He never knew it and I was too shy to approach him. He never showed any special interest in me so there was no real reason to let him know. He was polite to me but that's about it. He signed my yearbook "Good luck to a really cute girl" which thrilled me but at the same time I had to remind myself that that was pretty much the basic line when signing one's yearbook.
When we went on our Senior trip to the Bahamas, I followed him all over the ship and somehow came into possession of his boarding photo that the cruise line photographer took. I snapped pictures of him on the beach. Upon returning home, I put them in my photo album.

I have been keeping a scrapbook of all the reunions and, of course, those photos ended up in that scrapbook. He saw those photos at this reunion and seemed to get a kick out of the fact that I took them. I am sure it was a boost to his ego. He was there with his wife, of course; a very attractive woman. He still looks good, too. My friend, who just happens to be the chairman of the committee for the reunion knows of my past crush on him and made sure he was seated at our table. Nice treat for me.

I was shy in high school and didn't say much except to my close friends. Around them, I was quite a cut-up but most of the senior class was not aware of this. Well, this old broad came out of her shell at this reunion and did a stand-up comedy act. I couldn't believe that I did it but I wasn't even nervous. I just felt like I was among friends and I have come to realize that they are just people and nothing to fear.

Our school colors are red and silver. My dress was red with silver accessories. The dress was sleeveless, very low cut showing cleavage I never had in high school. My opening line was "As you can see, I am dressed in our school colors. I bought this dress especially for this occasion. It was on sale ... half-off ..." At that point, I looked down at my cleavage, gave the dress a tug at the top and stated "And it still is."

Upon returning to my table after my 'act', Alan stepped into my path and gave me a big bear hug and told me how much he enjoyed it. All I could think was "Wow, I would have killed for this hug 50 years ago". My second thought was "I should have done a comedy act in high school."

Learn more about this author, Patty Padgett.
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