Where Are They Now?

Greetings and Salutations
     Well, here is the followup to my 25th High School Reunion.. First off I have to say that I am very glad that I went and that I will never consume the amount of alcohol that I did that night ever again :)  It was fun, a rite of passage, and most of all it was nice to meet people that I wasn't really friends with in high school, but was able to make a connection with that night.. I was overall surprised that pretty much anyone remembered me at all to tell you the truth and I am amazed that anyone would remember that I transferred in mid year of the ninth grade.. It was like a validation that I wasn't expecting..
     There were several people who remembered me and I was actually taken aback.. There was one guy who always made me feel like an alien and a weirdo.. I hadn't thought about him until the moment I saw him.. When we walked past each other I instantly felt like I did when I was 17.. It was that same look on his face.. To some degree I guess it made me feel, not better, but somehow vindicated to tell him how I felt.. "I feel that you look at me like I'm an alien, then and now".. He just shrugged his shoulders and said "what ever" and walked away.. It made me laugh..
     Speaking of vindication, and trust me when I say the two nights were nothing about "righting a wrong" from twenty-five years ago.. But when you go back in time as I was for two nights (first night out was at a bar to see people who would and would not be at the reunion the next day) it makes you think of things you haven't in a long time.. When you do "go there" you remember.. I shared with a particular person how they shaped my high school experience in a negative way.. I said it is laughable today but wasn't then.. He said sorry.. Funny, that wasn't why I said that, for a sorry, yet it felt good to hear it.. If I remember correctly (I could have been moderately hammered at this point LOL) he said he was glad to have the opportunity to apologize and that struck me as a profound way for him to feel..
     This one guy that had a crush on me, now this is one I can't figure out.. I went up to say hello and do the blah blah blah thing.. I figured of all the people I wasn't sure would remember me, he would.. He looked at me with a blank stare and when I said my name (which I know he heard), at the same time there was a commotion around where I was standing and he was sitting.. He looked dead at me, stood up, and walked away.. Said nothing.. Avoided me for the rest of the night.. Walked around the room the long way to avoid coming my way.. Never made eye contact again.. I have no idea what to make of that but it was an experience all the same..
     One perspective I was unaware of (during high school) was shared with me by a female class mate.. "I am never intimidated my anyone and you intimidated the hell out of me back then.. So intense. It was like you were on a mission".. I had no idea she even knew I existed back then.. I was happy she shared that with me and made me laugh at myself.. Of course it also points out how little I have changed in the intense "on a mission" part LOL..
     I came away from the reunion with closure to the past in which I rarely think about and it reminded me how glad I am that none of those interactions were a defining moment for me.. I like to leave the distant past where it is and live in the present reminding myself that most of what I remember is skewed and not accurate.. I live in the here and now and that weekend is a reminder that in the present is where I want to keep it.. It was a great weekend and it was exactly what I hoped for, not over the top and not beyond disappointing.. I have left out some events to protect the drunk (mainly me) but I think you get the overall picture and I will leave the rest to your imagination :)


Tootles :)
Heather