H/S reunions?

Anybody go? Do you enjoy them?

I'm getting all the invites to my 50th, but they go straight into my trash folder (or can). I've been to two in my lifetime, both my 20th. Both in Orlando. (figure that one out!)

Actually, I grew up in Orlando and we only had two high schools in my area. You attended one if you lived North of highway 50 and one if you lived South of highway 50. Hwy 50 pretty much ran through the middle of town back in the day (now, it's gotten so big, I don't know where Orlando starts or where it ends). I lived within a few blocks of hwy 50, so I went to kindergarten, "elementary" (what grade school was called back then) and Jr. High with basically the same friends. When we reached h/s, we were pretty much divided down the middle, depending on which side of hwy. 50 we lived on. So, half the friends I grew up with went to one h/s and the rest of us went to the other. For that reason, I decided to attend BOTH h/s reunions.

Major mistake. It was "ok" running into a few old friends, but TBH, I realized, of the friends I REALLY liked and was closest with, we'd stayed in touch anyway. So basically, I went to see people I really didn't care that much about. The WORST part? Everybody had gotten OLD!!! Some of the good lookin' wimmins had gotten old and fat and the rest of the good lookin' wimmins just got old ... but were decent looking "old ladies". It seemed the only one stuck in a time warp and was still 18-ish looking/feeling ..... was ME! I know, I know ... but it sure "seemed" that way. Ha! My biggest shock was my old Jewish girlfriend. We were "girlfriend and boyfriend" in elementary school and dated in the later years, but we'd been "friends" for so long, it was more of a "best friend" sort of dating than "romantic" dating. I will say she was one of the cutest little things I'd ever set eyes on. At the first reunion, we pretty much hung out and sat together at dinner. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her! Not because she was still cute as a button ... no .... she looked like a "typical" OLD Jewish lady! ARRRGGGHHH! What happened? She now lived in Ft. Lauderdale (or did then) with all the rich, Yankee Jewish types. Her dad was a doctor and she's MARRIED to a doctor. I asked about her two brothers and found out one is a doctor and the other is an attorney. Ha! How typical! I couldn't help but imagining her mother's voice in my head talking about, "My son the attorney" in a heavy Jewish accent!

Anyway, I say all of that just to point out practically ALL of my resurrected old friendships were about as uninteresting as the one above and I had very little in common with any of them.

Ok, I was disappointed and left wondering what it was that I had really expected. I guess I expected to be sent back in a time machine to the late 60's, I don't know. A couple weeks later, I headed to my next reunion (the h/s North of I-4) hoping for something different. It was all the same. I met up with an old girlfriend and she'd gained about 200 lbs and drove a mini-van with one of those decals on the window that depicted mom. dad, three kids, a dog and a cat. She'd gone on to college and waited until later in life to get married, so her kids were still ... well .... kids!

I have to admit, I left my first reunion feeling a bit depressed. After the second, I said to myself, "Never again"! And I stuck to my word. I've never attended another one and will not be going to my 50th. I think I'd rather keep my childhood memories intact and leave well enough alone thankyouverymuch.

I have enjoyed all of mine, (only missed 1, 30th. due to a trap shoot)
Had a large circle of friends within the 250 classmates, played three sports so lot's of teammates too.
Our last one was #55 back in 2018, we've lost a 1/3 of our class already, including some good friends
There still is a core group that are close even though we only see each other every 5 years, when we get together it takes about 5 minutes to transition back to 1963, same old stories, news of kids, grand kids and great grand kids.
Old girl friends still look good, buddies are now old, fat and bald, but still fun to be around.
I met my wife at College, but we've always hung around with my group and very little with hers, so she blends in well and know most of the stories.
She has her 55 coming up this summer, but like you, has no interest in attending, she was very active in HS, but never carried over many friend after she graduated.
We live about 200 miles from home, but I keep in touch with what's going on with deaths, sickness and gossip from two old girlfriend that email me with the latest news.
HS had a large part of who I am, and what I've become, I cherish those times, those memories and those friends.

My high school is still a pretty small school so most of my classmates attend an All Class reunion that is held every other year. Our last big one we combined with the class of 71 and 73 and was our 30th. That’s the last one I attended. Lots of fun.
50th is coming up in 2022.

BKB

Me, too, JB.....man, I love my h/s reunions!!!.....I dated nearly every one of the gals in my senior class, and most of the junior, soph, and freshman gals in the entire h/s.....h/s was a blast for me.....if I'd owned a car back then, there's no telling how much more fun I'd had.....dating on that Sears mo-ped was somewhat challenging, but I got-ur-dun, out on Red Light Road!!! ;)

Well, I should probably elaborate a bit. I was born and raised in Orlando and we remained in the same neighborhood until I was 15 years old. In those days, I could ride my bike from one end of town to the other. Now I don't even know where the "end of town" is. My dad started advancing his career and we moved to Mississippi during the summer between Jr. High and High School, so technically, I attended my Freshman year of H/S in Jr. H/S (7th-9th grade) and I never even attended a "real" h/s in Orlando, but I knew most everyone at the reunions because I'd known, grown up with and gone to school with the same people for 15 years. I'm sure that had a LOT to do with it. I knew them, but conversations about Jr. High (pranks, sock hops, ball games, etc) and High School activities (cars/driving, women, drinking, beach runs, etc.) differ greatly and I wasn't there as a participant for those more exciting years. I attended my Sophomore year at a h/s in Vicksburg, Mississippi and my Jr. & Senior year in Memphis. I'm sure that had a major impact on my feelings about the h/s reunions here. I've stayed in contact with close friends I had in H/S, but I have no interest in attending any of their reunions. I just had no "history" there, so-to-speak.

My brother was invited to his (25th) h/s reunion (he was a year ahead of me), but due to business constraints, he couldn't make it. The Class President had commissioned a professional video to be made of the reunion and he ordered one, When it arrived, he was busy and threw it into a drawer to view at a later time. He forgot about it and stumbled upon it about a year later, then watched it. His reaction was much the same as mine. He ejected the CD and dropped it straight into the trash. He said that seeing all those old farts was depressing and, like me, he'd have rather remembered them the way they were when in h/s. He's never physically attended a reunion and has no plans to.

Maybe we're just weird that way. I dunno.

Now, don't get me wrong. I had a blast in h/s and was a popular dude (if I say so myself). I did some crazy shit and was well known for my craziness. Dating was a no-brainer and I had my fair share of hot wimmins, but "going back" was much different than I'd expected. Now college, that was another story. I still have good buddies I made in college and we love rehashing some of the crazy shit we pulled.

I suppose the military is where I made my closest and longest lasting relationships. It was a whole different ball game and maybe our conversations are the types that really can't be shared with anyone else. H/S? It's just a memory, a pleasant one, but one that is better off remaining just a memory .... for me anyway.

I don’t know why but I had the idea in my head you lived in Lakeland.

‘end of town’ these days for Orlando would be Cocoa Beach and aboutTarpon Springs the other direction wouldn’t it?

Too busy down that way nowadays! I liked ‘Old Florida’ better.
BKB

I do live in Lakeland .... now. I was born and raised in Orlando. I graduated H/S in 1970, went to a year of college, then Uncle Sam came knocking. (they started the draft lottery) I had a student deferment but found out that all that meant was, I couldn't be drafted until I graduated or quit going to school. I figured I'd get the military out of the way, then finish school on the GI Bill. (it never happened) When I got out of the service (late '75), my folks had relocated to California, so I settled in there until '77, then moved back to Orlando. I missed the opportunities L. A. offered and moved back to California a couple years later. In '89, my doctor diagnosed me with "work related" high blood pressure and told me I needed a career change, or I'd need to go on meds. I went home, thought about it, quit my job, threw a 'for sale" sign in my front yard and in two weeks, my house was sold! I was past the point of no return and moved back to Florida with dreams of starting my own business (couldn't afford to do it in California). By that time, Disney had been here for 18 years and the Orlando area had exploded. Heck, I may as well have stayed in L.A. if I wanted all that craziness! Lakeland is a sleepy little town on the Interstate between Orlando and Tampa. It's slow and the cost of living is relatively low, yet I can be in Orlando OR Tampa in 40-mins. I've been here for 31 years now.

I saw a ton of concerts in Lakeland ‘back in the day’. More bands than I can remember. Smoked a lot of doobies standing on the hard cement floor of that place. They usedto fill it to the brim.

BKB

Of course I went. The 50th was the best. At least what I remember of it................................................ ....................................

The ugly girls are the ones that show up, because guess what? They turned out good looking! And you will spend the night going "Wait. Why did I not see this back then?"

You are a people person. You should go. You won't know anyone anyway, you'll all have on masks.

My class hasn’t regularly had reunions. We had a 5 year that just about everyone went to, it was a really small school and most of us had been in school together since kindergarten. We didn’t have another reunion until our 30th. About half of the people showed up. I didn’t really enjoy it. I still see the people that I was good friends with, at least the ones that still live in the area. I was kinda disappointed that some of the people that I really would have liked to catch up with didn’t show. I probably won’t go to another one if they have one.

My wife is kind of the same way. She hasn’t been to one since her 10 year.


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