Saturday, July 7, 2007

Class of 87 Still Rules

This weekend I dragged the family to my home town for my twenty year high school reunion. I can't believe it has been two decades. I don't feel twenty years older. Well, sometimes my back feels that way after mowing the lawn.

I graduated with 29 other hopeful youngsters. Yes, I'm from a town where everybody knew everybody. We had about a 50% turnout for the reunion. I was hoping for a better turn out, but it was still nice to catch up with the classmates who were able to attend. Surprisingly enough, It didn't seem like anyone changed all that much. I know I am still the 'cool dude' I was in high school. My kids tell me that all the time. Most classmates had started families of their own and that is what everyone talked about of course.

We got to play some golf. Some of us just chased the ball from tree to tree before feeding it to the creek. It was a very loose game. The 'foot wedge' was used often and a few golf balls were thrown by hand with better results than some hits with the golf club. Golf etiquette was observed at all times. Except when we were shouting or laughing during someone's swing.

Those of us with kids got them all together with us at the park to play and get acquainted. After the kids had a hot dog picnic they were given over to their sitters, and we grilled steaks before invading the local tavern to jam to Outfield and Bon Jovi music. We acted like headbangers without the hair. It seemed some of us weren't used to having a night out sans kids. When 'no kids' was combined with seeing friends you haven't seen in ten to twenty years, it added up to loud evening. After a few drinks, some classmates started acting like they were still in high school. By the end of the night, a couple classmates actually thought they were still in high school.

Overall, the weekend was very fun. It was worth the five hour drive to reconnect with friends. It also made me realize that I miss my friends and I need to keep in touch better. We have all led such different and interesting lives. Many classmates went off in directions that no one could have predicted. Some have been around the world and have experienced different cultures. It also makes me re-evaluate my own life. Have I done enough and seen enough at this point in my life? Probably not. I now have email addresses that will allow me communicate better and hopefully learn more about where my former classmates have been.

Thanks to Christi, Kim, Maria and Mike and everyone else for all of their hard work. And if anyone needs a good pecan bar recipe, I'll get it from Carolyn.

By the way, I'm the old guy who's still 'got it' in the picture.

7 comments:

Steve said...

I love how the ones who don't have it, wear baseball caps.

So that means you're one of two guys. :)

delightful-d said...

You're still the "hot" one in my books LB!

What a nice weekend. I too am so glad you took the family to meet your classmates. It was a lot of fun. Even though my golfing is and was a lot better than yours - you still showed off with some good shots.....

Yes, thanks to Christi, Mike, Carolyn, Maria, and Kim. You all did a great job with everything!

Creative-Type Dad said...

Class of 29? Wow.

My class was 600+ of complete strangers.

DJ Kirkby said...

Sounds like you had a great time! I missed my 20th, lving on a different continent and all that malarkey! It would have cost £4000.00 for all 5 of us to go and I am not going anywhere without my man and boys!

Rand said...

I'm college class of '87!! So I totally get the music, the attitude, etc.

Darren said...

I had a 20th reunion last fall but couldn't go. I wish I could have, but only knew one other person going anyway. My class was big too--probably about 300.

The Father of Five said...

Well, Chiming in a bit late here (reading some of your back posts), but I too celebrated my 20 year reunion this year (Class of '87)!

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I'm a 40 year old dad of two. My wonderful wife, Lady Di, and I try to keep the kids from blowing things up here in central Minnesota.