My High School Reunion

In a few weeks I will be attending my high school graduating class's 45 year Reunion. Unlike the previous reunions, none of which I attended except the 25th, I will be attending this one.

I suppose the main reason for not going to past reunions was that I only received an invitation to one. Yep, you guessed it, it was the 25th -- the only reunion I ever attended. But I doubt that was the real reason why I didn't attend, albeit it is hard to attend meetings you don't know about.

But even when I did finally get the invitation I fought a battle within myself as to whether to attend or not to attend. Seems like a simple thing doesn't it. Either you do or you do not want to attend. Well, it wasn't that simple for me.

I really did want to attend. However, at some level because I'd never received an invitation (I was a pretty public figure then and easily located) I felt a little "unwanted." Now that was a paranoia on my part perhaps born of my own insecurities.

Then there was the was the corollary to the paranoia that kept telling me that no one at the reunion would remember me. After all, I was pretty vanilla in those days. Additionally, I was pretty sure my best friend in High School wouldn't be there. Not only would no one know me I figured I wouldn't recognize anyone there. After all they were all getting old now. No, when the invitation arrived I'd send it back with the biographical information and be done with it.

Well, the invitation arrived and with a little encourage from my wife to "man up" I filled out the forms, signed the checks for the fees and mailed it that same day. So much for the battle.

The day of the reunion came and we checked into the Houstonian Hotel and had an absolutely wonderful time. To be sure some folks didn't remember me but many did. My best friend wasn't there but I made some new friends. But more importantly an odd feeling came over me that was a mixture of joy and regret that produced as resolution to not equivocate next time I had a chance to see the people with whom I shared some of the Best Years of My Life.

So I am all registered and paid to attend the 45th Reunion of the PHS Class of 1965 and I still have some of those old anxieties. But I am nervously, no excitedly, looking forward to October 30 when once more in spite of the 45 intervening years I shall be magically transported back to a simpler and wonderful time we called our high school days at Pasadena Senior High.

If your a PHS class of 1965 alumni visit our class web page and register for this years reunion. Make this one less thing about which to have regrets. http://www.classreport.org/usa/tx/pasadena/phs/1965/