Flipping the high school reunion

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I haven't attended a high school reunion yet and never regretted missing them but my graduating class had such a good 30th they decided to have a 35th (yes, I'm that old), and that got me thinking.

The internet is amazing for reunions. They have a Facebook page for the awesome class of '80 and set the date for the 35th reunion in September to coincide with Homecoming. You can look up old classmates and friends on their site.

(Yet, in this day and age, they still can't find everyone. But that's not the point of this blog so I will leave that for another day. However, just a quick note...where are you, Robin Fisher?)

I have been satisfied catching up with old classmates through the internet and had not planned to attend the reunion. After all, I'm not big on looking back so much as forward, and really, what do I hope to gain from attending?

Do I want to go back and show everyone what a success I am? Not really. By Los Alamos standards, I'm not a success but I'm happy and not really concerned about meeting LA standards anyway. Do I want to go back and hang with the gang? No, I never did hang with any group. I was always a loner. Do I just feel that nostalgia that permeates all of this? No, I don't. I don't feel nostalgia anymore, and that is the problem, I think.

The reason, to me, is obvious. It's because I returned to Los Alamos and for 13 years tried to make it my home again. But it's so true -- you can never go home. You have to redefine it.

I escaped that town for the second time in my life only two years ago, and I really was not sure I could attend a reunion so soon. But the spirit of our class shines through on Facebook and it's contagious. So I did what I have learned to do lately -- I flipped my perspective and looked at it in a different way. So what if I wasn't feeling the typical, traditional feelings regarding this reunion? This is what I came up with:

When we were in school, we lived the drama and politics of the artificial environment we learned in. There were cliques and clubs, "jocks", "loadies", "stomps", "cone heads", and "band fags" (that was me). Can you believe that? Of course you can. It continues to this day. They might have different names.

But there were people in school back then that I would've liked to have known better. I was too shy and never broke through those social barriers. I also see, as I look at profiles of the Class of '80, that many classmates I didn't really know have become educators, as I have.

Carol Ann Seeger Byrnes teaches at CNM and is writing a novel or two, as I hope to do. I love reading her "observations" of her students, their work, and the classroom experience...and her cats. John Bronisz is the Dean of Applied Technologies there, and Jim Gore is full-time faculty in the same department, I believe.

Bill Sanders is a math teacher in Texas. LOL. One of my favorite teachers who taught for my GED math program at UNM-Los Alamos was from Texas. I didn't agree with her on everything (Texans!!) but she is an amazing teacher.

Jane Riechman was teaching in Abq and now teaches special education at Aspen Elementary in Los Alamos. She seems to be happy getting to know her mom again. I'm glad that I had that chance -- to get to know my mom again in her last years. (I hope no one minds me dropping their name...if you are even reading this. If I got anything wrong, sorry, and let me know. Leave it as a comment! No one ever comments!)

I'm sure there are more in our class who went into education, and that is something I would be interested to know more about.

I've decided to attend the reunion. I hope to meet fellow teachers and like-minded classmates I did not have the good fortune to know back then. However, I'm not going back; I'm looking forward. Reunion isn't even an accurate word at this point. I'm flipping this thing.






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