Day 20 NaBloWriMo 30Yr Reunion

Have you attended a high school reunion?


I haven’t. I keep in touch with friends that I care about throughout the years and I'm extremely fortunate for such long lasting quality friendships. FB has helped to reconnect with some and made me realize that I don't need to reconnect with others. I'm not into the "one-up-manship” vibe. Some friends have gone to the our high school reunions and stated, "The kids who were catty back in the day are still catty and cliquish. Not much as changed

That said, I attended a high school reunion this past weekend, but it wasn't mine. It was Greg's 30 year high school reunion ~ St. John Vianney Prep '79. This is the first time that Greg attended his reunions, not for the reasons I stated above, but rather because he moved around a lot and was never in town for the previous reunions.

It was really nice. The guys were sincere and there was a commardery amongst them, none of the catty attitudes that come with co-ed schools. You could tell the men wanted to know that everyone was doing well. There was a certain light in their eyes, which spoke with sincerity. When many of them told Greg that they missed him at the other reunions and wanted to keep in touch, I believed them. How refreshing; how nice. I'm so glad that Greg went and I was glad to share in it as well. This is how reunions should be!















Another part that I liked was hearing "stories" of Greg's past. Stuff he might not have ever shared with me? hehe. It was cute. They talked about childhood antics, such as taking a pier apart.. and oh my gosh, a bunch of stuff they did on a Senior Retreat that costs them their Senior Trip! They were ticked at the time, I'm sure, but they could laugh about it now. I could see the various personalities as they talked about the past ~ the class clown, the tough guys, the quiet types. It was priceless!

I also heard about the "little brothers" and what happened when they became Seniors. Each Senior was assigned a "little brother" (a freshman, I believe, whatever the newest class to come into the school). The Little Brother was assigned to them by the school and each senior told the little brothers what to do for one week. It was an initiation into the school.















There were rules, such as: you couldn't hurt the little brother, had to be done on school grounds, couldn't involve drugs, alcohol (of course), couldn't make the little brother late for class, etc. In other words, the initiation was still under the guidance and eyes of the school, yet it made it fun and a memory maker. Some of the little brothers were made to wear a dress all week. Some Seniors dug trenches across the ground and made the little brothers crawl through the mud while the Seniors threw water balloons and flour on them. It sounded harmless and the guys laughed a lot. I thought, "Hmm, definitely a guy's school. It was given and taken in good humor. No hurt feelings."

Just as we were getting ready to leave, I asked Greg if I could take some pictures. You know me, Aleta the Shutterbug, I'm always carrying a camera, even in a little black purse. I would have bought the honeymoon camera, but it's bulky and they would have thought I was a nerd. (I love that Nikon D90! Takes SUCH good pictures.) Unfortunately, my little pink camera wasn't too clear, but it was all that I had...

Pat, one of the guys who organized the reunion, rounded up the classmates. As I was taking the picture, one of the guys started singing their school alma mater and the group joined in. About mid way through I was able to get the record feature on the camera going. The picture is a little dark, but the light gets turned on right towards the end. I thought it was just too cute!