This past weekend, I met a group of complete strangers at a bar in Wheatfield to celebrate our 20-year high school reunion.
OK, so not all of them were complete strangers. A few I’ve kept up with over the years — or more specifically, a few I’ve stalked on Facebook — but the majority of them are people that I’ve said very little to since we all walked across the stage at Artpark some 20 years ago.
Some I don’t remember at all. I really wanted to ask them, “are you sure you went to Niagara-Wheatfield?” I’m sure that’s more a testament to my poor memory than anything else. Oddly, they remembered me. It’s not so much that I was shocked that they remembered me, as much as I was shocked that they knew who I was in the first place. You see, I wasn’t really in the cool-kids crowd in high school.
Hard to believe, huh?
I learned a lot about myself during the reunion. For one thing, I’ve apparently always been the pain in the posterior that I am today. I don’t always remember being so obstinate. I thought that was something I picked up while working in radio. Or maybe in college. I thought I was quiet and mousy in high school.
“You were the guy that sat in the front seat in law class and gave the teacher a hard time,” one of my fellow class members said Friday night. In other words, not only did I not remember some of my classmates, I didn’t remember myself.
There was a 10-year reunion. I skipped it. I think a lot of people skipped it. I have a feeling 10 years isn’t a long enough absence from high school to miss it.
We had a 17-year reunion. It was at a bar in Niagara Falls. I remember it being a little more superficial than the 20-year one. And I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much, but it did reconnect me with a couple classmates in particular who I’ve since stayed in touch with a little more closely than I had before.
This time around, I reconnected with a couple more classmates whom I hope to stay in touch with in a similar manner as to how I’ve stayed in touch with those I talked with at the last go-round.
We talked about life, liberty and the pursuit. Nothing seemed as though it was out of bounds. From jobs to exes to politics to (for at least one classmate) time spent in jail.
Everyone had such a great time, there’s already talk of doing a 21-year reunion. This, of course, won’t happen, but it’s cool to think that people had such a good time.
Scott Leffler is a decent guy … no matter what his schoolmates may tell you. Follow him on Twitter @scottleffler.
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