No Excuses

I have no excuse for not blogging.  At least not an exciting one about some wild adventure.  Fact is, I have just been lazy about this one item.

I've been busy with my grandson and baby-proofing my home (that includes an open contemporary stairway), getting the yard ready for winter (the birch tree that got damaged by the ice storm has bit the dust for good), planning my Thanksgiving dinner (menu to follow), running numerous errands, trying to keep up with my favorite TV shows (thank goodness for On Demand viewing), and reading three books at the same time (which one can do during the numerous political ads that ran for the last two weeks).

I've had lots of 'stuff' that I could have written about, but as you can see, I just summed it up in one paragraph.  I decided to sit and write this morning as a result of a phone call I received last night.

It was 9:27 last night to be exact.  I mean, who calls me at that time?  The caller ID said cell phone.  But as much as I hate the robo-callers who hide their true identity, even they do not call that late.

So, out of curiosity, and despite the fact that I was watching the season finale of 'Doctor Who' (see On Demand comment above), I picked up the phone.  A male voice asked if this was Denise.  I asked who was calling.  He gave me his name and I thought maybe it was someone looking for someone I might know.  (Believe it or not, this actually happened to me one time when a bill collector was looking for someone.)

He then explained that he was in my high school class and the light dawned.  Yes, of course I remembered him, but since I had already skipped the reunion (and chided them in my blog that no one would miss me), I couldn't imagine why he was calling.

Well, in a very nice gesture, he was asking if I would like a picture from the 50th reunion.  With names identifying everyone.  Well, I couldn't pass that up and in exchange I sent him a picture from the 30th reunion.

Well, despite my biting remarks in my reunion post last month, there were a few folks in the picture I would have not minded seeing again.  One is a woman who I knew through all twelve years of schooling.  Another is a girl who beat me out for valedictorian (I was studying French and chemistry whilst she was practicing voice and typing).  One is a girl who never actually graduated with our class because she had to drop out due to a pregnancy.  And the girl who was a thorn in my side, egad she drove me crazy.  There were some I have no memory of in our class of about 250 (only 33 at the reunion).  I learned that about 40 classmates have already died, but only know the names of a few.

We had an interesting conversation and he said that there will be a reunion next May of the class along with the 1965 graduates.  I'd planned to be away that weekend, but maybe I'll alter my plans, or not.  Later this afternoon, I plan to go downstairs and dig out my senior yearbook so I can check out who some of these folks are.  Maybe pictures will help me place them.  Plus, I'm curious to see how they have changed.

1964 graduation

2014:  Grand Cascade at the Grand Peterhof Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia

To Re-une, or not to Re-une, Not really a Question

Do you attend your high school reunions?  Have you ever attended one?  Do you have close friends from high school that you still see after 40 or 50 years?

My answers are yes, yes, and no.  And since I do not keep in touch with these folks from 50 years ago, I have decided to skip my 50th reunion on Saturday.  (I decided that before I found out I was having house guests for the week-end.)

I have attended three reunions in the past.  I went to my ten year reunion with my husband.  Many attendees were there with spouses.  I think what many of us discovered is that bringing a spouse to a reunion is like bringing an overcoat to the desert, i.e. you are dragging it around the entire day and have no use for it whatsoever.  (Unless of course you graduated together.)

At the 20 year reunion, I do not remember seeing any spouses.  It was also the reunion where everyone was ready to tell tales long hidden about fellow classmates.  That reunion was pretty well-attended and quite an eye-opener for me.

The 30th reunion was not so well-attended, but proved to be another eye-opener.  There were men wearing leisure suits (this is now 1994) and still living in the 60's when it came to lifestyle (hanging out at McDonald's?  Really?).  Some of the women still had the same 60's hairstyles and the same pink lipstick.  I felt like I had traveled in a time machine whilst wearing a designer Carmen Marc Valvo evening gown.  I realized that other than graduating with these people, we had not very much in common.

So, earlier this year when I received an email asking for my current information, I answered the questions and sent it back.  When asked if I wanted to purchase a book with info on my fellow classmates, I politely declined.

I doubt that anyone will miss me on Saturday.  I'll be having dinner with my family in a nice quite Italian restaurant.  I am sure we will be trading travel adventure stories, their's in Paris and mine in Russia.

And I am sure all of my old classmates will be spending the evening talking about who made it and who didn't, who looks young and who aged poorly, and all the same cattiness I heard in the past.  Who needs it.

My high school letter for sports.