an entry somewhere else

The day started nicely with a read of the local paper, a coffee fetched from 7-11 because Al & Jenn have vanquished caffeine from their home, a long conversation overdue with my senior-year college roommate, Julie. Little did I know that I would be apprehensive about seeing people that I had not seen in ten years.

I started off with my best friend from high school and his wife. We went to lunch and he and I steeled ourselves with a large portion of Oberon before even thinking about setting off. As we crept up to the park where the reunion was held, I was damn apprehensive about it all. I can’t really say why because I’m satisfied with what I’m doing, and I don’t bitch all that much. So, more or less, I can’t complain. Nevertheless, I felt a little off — I was never really at ease in any large gathering. OK, I hate mingling; I hate networking; I hate meeting new people. I like my hermitage out of the way and out of the minds of many.

We arrived at the same time of another of our classmates and offered to haul the cooler out. He had just arrived from Wyoming–driving. What was going to happen once I was let off by myself? I spent some time talking to a couple guys that I wrestled with. I spent some time talking to the wife of one of these guys until my brain said, “You went to high school with her.” Sure enough, I did. We all did. People from high school don’t get married. People who weren’t already dating in high school that is. I figured out who she was.

Anyhow, I didn’t talk to everyone. I never really talked to most of the people anyhow. Of course, I was repeating myself over and over again; I was hearing all of us repeating ourselves. Children were running around. People had changed but I’m not sure how much. We all made jokes how we were getting fatter, finding gray hairs. Self-deprecatory humor was at an all-time high. I joined in.

What did catch my attention was that no one seemed to be unhappy. Now, as I type this, I do realize that if someone was unhappy, they probably wouldn’t be shucking it out at a time when you’re shooting the breeze with someone you haven’t seen in ten years. Then again, we left after a couple hours. People were still rolling in.

I had good conversations that sped past the innocuous and superficial; I had innocuous and superficial conversations — the whole reason to have a reunion in the first place. Even though I was a bit nervous at the outset, I was happy that I went and glad that I left while still craving more. Would I evade the event in hindsight? Non.