High School Confidential

Well, I survived the big twentieth year class reunion. And I have to tell you, I learned a lot.

I learned that having the right dress and the right shoes is critical because then you can walk through the crowds feeling good about yourself, whether or not you've hit the big time or maintained status quo.

I learned that having the popular guy not only remember your name but tell another friend you look pretty good can evoke that same giddy rush you felt back in high school.

I learned that the stupid quasi-popular-because-the-were-slutty party girls haven't grown up a single year since graduation. I swear I heard a drunken conversation in the bathroom of the ballroom that was a perfect repeat of the same drunken conversation I'd heard twenty plus years ago in the bathroom of the school gym on the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance. Geez, girls, how old are you?

I learned that looking good when you are eighteen doesn't guarantee looking good at thirty-eight.

I learned that the geeky guy in high school will say pretty much anything to not be the geeky guy at the reunion.

I learned that a lot of my classmates - the vast majority - never left our hometown. Yet they rarely bump into each other.

I learned that I'm very glad I married my husband and that he is a sweet, patient guy for putting up with all the squealing and conversations about stuff of which he had no clue.

I learned that it is still possible to feel really awkward when you're at a party, standing in the corner with your drink, looking around for people you know and wishing desperately for someone to come talk to you. This happened at the pre-reunion mixer, which I discovered my husband and I had attended at too early an hour. Apparently the real party didn't start until long after I'd had quite enough of feeling miserable and dh and I'd gone off for a nice dinner and a movie.

I learned that you forget how many people you knew in high school until you see them again and it all comes rushing back in.

I learned that many high-school sweetheart marriages really do last.

I learned that one of my classmates has survived breast cancer and five others have passed away.

I learned that those people you called your best friends in high school aren't necessarily the ones who will stand the test of time. The three women I'd name as my closest friends were not at the reunion, and since I haven't talked to them since the last reuinion, I doubt I'll ever see or hear from them again. Pretty bizarre considering how insperable we were for nearly three whole years of our lives.

I learned that I had a great time in high school, with absolutely no regrets. I also learned that I'd never, ever want to go back and do it all over again. Even knowing what I know now.

And now I have ten whole years to shop for a dress for the next reunion. No excuses for procrastinating.