Reunion to Remember

It was with some trepidation that I agreed to go to our 45th high school reunion.  Art would not be with me because he was at his 50th reunion on the Big Island on the same night.

Joanne encouraged me to go saying she would be by my side and keep me company through the night.  Yvonne also said she'd cue me in on people I knew I would not remember.  I am NOT blessed with a good memory, which is the main reason I haven't wanted to go in the past.

I remember enjoying High School, but I didn't know how much.  I remember having a lot of wonderful friends, but what did they really think of  me?  Would anybody remember me?  Uh oh... and worse, if they remembered me, would I remember them?

The gala affair was on Friday night at Nico's at Pier 38 in Honolulu.

The Reunion committe had done an amazing job.  Yvonne's husband leads that committee so she could prepare me for some of what to expect.

I saw tables with centerpieces reflecting the fact that our high school was from a sugar plantation town.  A large screen would later show the faces of all the classmates who had passed away.  We joined hands and had a moment of silence as we remembered those friendships.  I could almost hear their voices, their laughter.

The record holds a recording of our alma mater.  The brown sugar and sugar canes remind us of where we came from.

People began arriving and happy smiles of recognition were the prelude to their hugs of welcome.  One unfamiliar fellow stood staring at me which had me worried.  He then came over and said, "Hello, Kay.  I had a little hard time making sure it was you because you cut your hair.  You used to have it at your shoulders."  He then proceeded to tell me exactly where I used to live, about my brother, my neighbors... 

After a while all the happy hugs had me a little intoxicated with their loving offer of friendship and remembrance.

Everybody enjoyed the wonderful dinner buffet.

Joanne and Yvonne very kindly saved me a seat between them so they could clue me in on people I might not recognize.

Someone told me she thought I was smart because I hung out with the "smart group."  I told her it was true that I did hang out with those lifelong friends, but I myself  was certainly unfortunately not smart.  I just happened to have a smart bunch of friends. 

Then there were the games.

Our MC classmate was an incredible stand-up comedian throwing out one joke at a time.

The games started with blowing up balloons and batting them at each other.  This warmed everybody up for what was to come.

Reverse BINGO where everybody stood up and then sat down if your number was called was fun.  Believe it or not I was one of those left standing dueling with another classmate until at last, my number was called to sit.  After several more games, we were all back to feeling the joys of High School fun.

And then I won this $25.00 gift certificate to Roy's in Ko'Olina.

I discovered some things about me that I wasn't sure of at this Reunion.

I wasn't exactly shy after all.  I wasn't exactly quiet after all.  And I really did have fun in High School.

We sang the alma mater together and it was a good thing the words were on the screen because I forgot some of it.  However, like my young years, I remembered the melody.

They say there will be another party when we reach Medicare at 65 in two years.  You know what?  I think I'll go.  And I'm going to encourage the rest of my smart friends to go too.