I’m still reeling from the fun I had at my sister Jenna’s Class of ‘79 30-year High School Reunion in San Diego last week. I myself was class of ‘77, and I’ve never been to my own reunions; don’t expect to. My friends know who they are, although Facebook has rediscovered some fun people for me. But Jenna’s class was full of amazing personalities, and it was intensely enjoyable joining in the fun.
Since this was my first ever reunion, I have to say I was blown away by some of the changes. Of course, there were people who aged a lot, put on a lot of weight and hair changes. And then there was the couple who went for serious weight-training and looked like the cover of a Fitness magazine, bursting out of their clothes, veins rippling everywhere. I couldn’t help but think of a circus atmosphere from the contrasts.
The band kicked ass; they were so inhumanly good I didn’t go over and do my musician bonding thing, I just watched them knocking out home run after home run and wondered how you get that talented. Someone said they were the backup band for American Idol. I haven’t confirmed that, but these people made the David Letterman band seem low-key and tepid, so I can believe it. They did Earth, Wind and Fire, a long inspired Purple Haze, and Violent Femmes perfectly. Singing well is an amazing thing, I dream of being in that category someday.
My sister and her girlfriends have all aged amazingly well. Frankly they seem more beautiful with each decade. But the fun factor was the best part. Most of them left their husbands at home and did some seriously fun dancing and partying.
One quite unexpected part of the night came when I was approached by a nice guy I knew casually through my other friends. He was the younger brother of a girl my own age that I fell in love with during the first month of 9th grade, and held a burning torch for the whole 4 years. I asked her out many times, but something always got in the way. I eventually accepted that the chemistry wasn’t right for her. But here comes her brother at this party to tell me his sister had a thing for me all along and was sorry we couldn’t be together. I kept wondering if he had had too much to drink, ‘cause this didn’t add up. But it was awfully nice to hear that a family member of this girl thought that was possible. In my eyes, this girl made Lady Di seem vaguely unremarkable. After I woke up the next day I thought, well, if this is true then cool, but hey, I didn’t keep my feelings secret; with great planning I asked her out 9 times in 11th grade alone. I wasn’t loud or forward, but shyness was never an issue…
During the after-party my good friend Wiley stripped down to his thong-speedo and swam in the San Diego bay water outside our room. He came in dripping wet to the adulation of our co-Revelers, and we continued in that spirit until 5am.
Since this was my first ever reunion, I have to say I was blown away by some of the changes. Of course, there were people who aged a lot, put on a lot of weight and hair changes. And then there was the couple who went for serious weight-training and looked like the cover of a Fitness magazine, bursting out of their clothes, veins rippling everywhere. I couldn’t help but think of a circus atmosphere from the contrasts.
The band kicked ass; they were so inhumanly good I didn’t go over and do my musician bonding thing, I just watched them knocking out home run after home run and wondered how you get that talented. Someone said they were the backup band for American Idol. I haven’t confirmed that, but these people made the David Letterman band seem low-key and tepid, so I can believe it. They did Earth, Wind and Fire, a long inspired Purple Haze, and Violent Femmes perfectly. Singing well is an amazing thing, I dream of being in that category someday.
My sister and her girlfriends have all aged amazingly well. Frankly they seem more beautiful with each decade. But the fun factor was the best part. Most of them left their husbands at home and did some seriously fun dancing and partying.
One quite unexpected part of the night came when I was approached by a nice guy I knew casually through my other friends. He was the younger brother of a girl my own age that I fell in love with during the first month of 9th grade, and held a burning torch for the whole 4 years. I asked her out many times, but something always got in the way. I eventually accepted that the chemistry wasn’t right for her. But here comes her brother at this party to tell me his sister had a thing for me all along and was sorry we couldn’t be together. I kept wondering if he had had too much to drink, ‘cause this didn’t add up. But it was awfully nice to hear that a family member of this girl thought that was possible. In my eyes, this girl made Lady Di seem vaguely unremarkable. After I woke up the next day I thought, well, if this is true then cool, but hey, I didn’t keep my feelings secret; with great planning I asked her out 9 times in 11th grade alone. I wasn’t loud or forward, but shyness was never an issue…
During the after-party my good friend Wiley stripped down to his thong-speedo and swam in the San Diego bay water outside our room. He came in dripping wet to the adulation of our co-Revelers, and we continued in that spirit until 5am.
The real party mistress behind the curtain was Lynn, who made phone calls no one else would ever succeed at and made this thing happen. Lynn is a vibrant personality with a distinctly irreverent sense of humor that comes like a surprise left hook, into contrast to her genuinely classy vibe. We dated in High School and College and sometimes felt like conspirators together, in the best way. She had that effect on her friends. Back in the day she spontaneously started all the best skinny-dipping parties, and we owe her big-time for past memories. A guy could never do half of what Lynn was capable of…
Another nice moment of the night came when Wiley gave me his porkpie hat after I tried it on and liked it. I asked Lynn, who is a great photographer, to take a picture (at about 2:30am). The cool thing about this pic is how it includes the three of us.
If you go to a party this good every 10 years, you’re on a roll if you ask me. Thanks to invitations from my sister Jenna, I’ve been averaging very well.
1 comment:
I'm glad to hear that the reunion was good. I remembered seeing something about it in one of your earlier blogs and thought it might be nice to go, but I wasn't sure when it was. As it happened, I was scheduled to visit my wife Ana in Boston from August 20th to the 25th and got back last night. Since I was unable to make it to the reunion I was glad to have your report. Talk to you soon Ed.
Emilio
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