Class reunions

[Luanne]

Has anybody gone to theirs or are planning on going to theirs? I went to one event at my 10 year reunion. It was a picnic in the park and everyone brought their families. I was a single mother then. My best friend from school was still living in Colorado and came with me and my daughter who was 4 years old at the time. I really enjoyed it. I did not go to the 20 year old and am not planning on going to the 30 year one which is at the end of June. I don't like large groups of people or sports bars. My best friend lives in the south of France now and is not able to make it. I've always been an introvert. I don't think I would really enjoy myself anyway.

[MommaOfalotta]

Well.. I might not be much help. I, too, am an introvert. I dont plan on going to any reunions but we haven't acutally had one yet. We were supposed to have our five year last summer(?) but no one RSVP'd so they cancelled. :lol:

 

I really dont have the desire to ever go to one.

[Excelsior! Academy]

No. I don't keep in contact with most of the people I graduated with. Other than a trip down memory lane ( which I can get from a yearbook) I really have no desire. Ever.

[AHASRADA]

Went to my 10th which was also in a park, brought my kids along. Only those with kids bothered to come; the rest had met up at a bar the night before. I didn't attend my 20th; I actually forgot 2011 would have been our 20th reunion until...the beginning of 2013. Oops.

 

There are really only a couple of people I would have much interest in seeing anyway, and although it can be interesting to see what everyone "made of themselves", I am a completely different person than I was in high school and wouldn't have much in common with anyone anymore. So, not an introvert, but I just find large class reunions irrelevant.

 

I have Googled a few close friends I lost touch with just to find out where they are, etc., and that was satisfying. I can now contact them directly if I so choose, without reliving the high school dynamic.

[Desert Rat]

I haven't gone to any of mine. Ours our held in venues that are very expensive. The last one was $75 for a couple just for the cocktail hour.

 

I'm friends with almost all of my friends from high school on FB. The core 8 of us are still in clost contact and see each other as often as we can. Our math tutor is even one of my best high school friend's mom. There isn't anyone else I'd like to reconnect with. Besides, many of my friends were not in my grade, but a year older or younger.

[BarbecueMom]

My 10-year reunion was a couple years ago. Joined the Facebook group, no one has changed. Skipped it. I hope DH doesn't want to go to his this year. Those girls hated me for "stealing" him.

 

I actually have the same group of friends from high school, but we graduated over a span of five years. Band will do that to you.

[Luanne]

I haven't gone to any of mine. Ours our held in venues that are very expensive. The last one was $75 for a couple just for the cocktail hour.

 

I'm friends with almost all of my friends from high school on FB. The core 8 of us are still in clost contact and see each other as often as we can. Our math tutor is even one of my best high school friend's mom. There isn't anyone else I'd like to reconnect with. Besides, many of my friends were not in my grade, but a year older or younger.

 

 

This time ours is $25 per person. The only friend I even want to talk to I do through email since she lives in a different country.

[SunnyDays]

We have one coming up. I'm not sure what we will do this time. We did go to our ten year and it was fun, but for some reason I'm not really feeling the urge this time.

[Lisa in SC]

It's not something I've ever done, and I'm quite outgoing, so it's not because I'm shy or anything. I just don't feel the need. I went to a small high school, and no one from my class went to the same university I attended, so I sort of drifted away from my high school group of friends. I've heard about a couple of reunions that turned into one-up competitions, which aren't my cuppa at all. I don't know. Perhaps, when I'm ancient, and have some really interesting stories, I'll be more inclined? Shrug.

[Baseball mom]

[KrissiK]

I didn't go to my 5th or 10th. It wasn't really intentional. I was out of the area and didn't feel like making the effort. I heard they were pretty pathetic. Homecoming queen et. al. showing off their new "enhancements" and all the other juvenile stuff. Ugh.. We should have had our 25th last year, but nobody planned it. I would have liked to have gone to that one. I think everyone has grown up enough to be a little more real.

[Ameena]

My 10 year was last year - I didn't get an invitation. Only reason I knew about it was I saw pics on a friends FB

[Remudamom]

I didn't like those people when I was in school with them. I did have a best friend in my class but she died when we were in college so I have no interest in going.

 

The people from school that I want to keep up with? I keep up with them. Forget the reunions.

[DawnM]

I go to all of mine. I am on the committee usually. Yup, I am one of *those* people :laugh:

 

I am leaving this Sunday for a weekend at the Beach with 11 of my girlfriends from high school.

 

But my experience was very different than most. I went to a boarding school and we were like siblings and have remained very close.

[Word Nerd]

I helped plan our last reunion and will go to our next one. I'm from a small town and most of us grew up together.

[Tap]

I have gone to my 10 and 20th but only because dh wanted to go. We went to the same highschool but I graduated and he didn't, so he can't go unless he is my plus one. LOL He grew up in my hometown and was very outgoing...he knows everyone. I left for 6 years after 5th grade and only came back for part of highschool. I hung out with specific people who weren't attending so I really had zero interest in going. It also gets annoying with everyone assuming I am HIS plus one. At both reunions, many of them kept introducing themselves to me like I had no idea who they are. LOL

 

It was okay. I ended up sitting most of the night with just a couple of people and chatting about our kids, parents and current lives. Part of the night, I hung out with people that I didn't even know in school. LOL

[Tita Gidge]

I liked school :) it was a small school, and I was related in one form or another to roughly 1/3 of the students.

 

I've never been to a reunion. My family lives in the same small town, so it's like a mini-reunion when I do simple errands around town.

 

I run into people from high school on a regular basis LOL.

 

I've gone to my husband's reunions, though. Once I even went without him!

 

His best friends from high school are still pretty involved in our lives, so it's always like a freebie get-together with them when we do go to the reunions.

 

Our in-laws watch the kids, and the couples get to hang out together for a weekend. Win, win!

[gardenmom5]

the people who plan them always go to bars. I went to my 10th, both the dinner and the family picnic. I didn't go to my 20th. I had a trip to hawaii planned, with tickets purchased, before I got notice that was the same weekend as my 30th - so I didn't have to decide if I wanted to go or not.

 

we did go to dh's 20th and 30th. One of my high school teachers was one of his classmates since elementary school. dh also loved having the youngest child at his 30th.

[MrsBasil]

I have nothing against the people I went to high school with, but I didn't work to stay in touch with friends and neither did they work to stay in touch with me. It wasn't the best time in my life and I moved on. It's not a priority, but it's not on my radar. My 10th was 3 years ago and my 20th is a ways down the road.

[Jean in Newcastle]

My graduating class had 30 people in it. While we are scattered across the world, 6 of us happen to live in this area. We're getting together this weekend. We've been doing so for over ten years (though it is much longer than that since we actually graduated). I think it makes a big difference though that our class size was so small and that we are all third-culture-kids who share a bond because of that.

[Mom in High Heels]

I went to an all girls school and loved it. Many of the girls were boarders, but I was a day student as I only lived a few miles away. There were 48 in my class and we've kept up with each other over the years. Heck, we keep up with those a year or two ahead and a year or two behind us. I went to my 10 and 15 year reunion, but missed my 20 in 2011. For 15 we had a brunch on Fri for those who could make it, and cocktails that evening. On Sat we had a family picnic, Sat night we had cocktails at the school so the alum could meet up with some of their old teachers and see the new wing added to the school, then we went to a restaurant for dinner (no spouses) and watched a slide show of photos of us in school. It was so much fun! I will definitely go to 25.

[carriede]

My 10-year reunion was a couple years ago. Joined the Facebook group, no one has changed. Skipped it.

 

Same story with me. I looked at the pics of the people in the group, and did NOT feel the need to dig up that nonsense!

 

My 10 year was last year - I didn't get an invitation. Only reason I knew about it was I saw pics on a friends FB

 

Mine's this year, and the invite was only through Facebook! I didn't know about it until a friend mentioned that she RSVPed.

[G5052]

Nope. I went to my tenth with two friends, but I still lived there. It was fun because we still had a connection.

 

Haven't been since. One time I was very pregnant, and the other time I had just been there for a family funeral when the invitation came, and I just didn't feel like going back. I doubt that I'll go to another.

[Catherine]

I attended a rural high school with 120 students in the class. We had our 30th reunion last fall; my BFF, who is still a very close friend, planned it. I went and honestly, I am SO glad I did-I had a blast, reconnected with a couple of friends I had really been wanting to talk to, and saw the others, who were friendly. I did not find that people had not changed. I thought they were all much softened by 30 years of real life and we all were genuinely happy to see each other. Maybe I'm just a Pollyanna, but it was really fun for me, and I was NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, a popular student. We had it in a hotel party room and they had to practically escort us out when the time was up-no one wanted to leave.

[NotSoObvious]

 

 

I actually have the same group of friends from high school, but we graduated over a span of five years. Band will do that to you.

 

 

Same here. I have no desire to go to mine. We have friend reunions and those are much better.

[Parrothead]

High school was a time I'd much rather forget. That time was some of the worst in my life. So, no I don't go to high school reunions.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Dh and I both went to our 10 year reunions. I actually had more fun at his because one of his high school friends married one of my college friends. Mine was a total bore. Most of them never left high school. I spent more time talking to spouses of my classmates than catching up with the classmates themselves. I haven't been back. We went to dh's 30th only because dh was pestered by one of his classmates who does some work with his organization. It was weird. They consolidated 4 high schools and every "reunionable" class. We walked in and dh only knew 5 people there. It was OK, but we won't go again.

[Luanne]

There were about 450 people in my graduating class. If only half of the people show up and bring a guest, that is going to be A LOT of people.

[Erin]

There were 68 of us in my graduating class, most of whom had been together since preschool. And, being rural Nebraska, most of us moved at least several hours away from home. Rural out-migration at work...

 

So yes, I do go back for my reunions--10th and 20th, so far. We're not close friends or anything, and I certainly didn't love HS, but it's kind of like seeing my 3rd cousins at a family reunion. It's nice to just catch up and chat.

[Element]

Meh. No, thanks.

 

I didn't go to my 10th and am not planning on going to my 15th this summer. I'm not an introvert, I just don't have any desire to make a special trip just to see the people I haven't kept up with through the years.

 

Dh and I met at a statewide summer art school for high-schoolers (back in the 90s, when the arts were fully funded in our state. :D ) We all try to get together once a year and catch up. That's the only reunion I really care about.

[Forget-Me-Not]

Nope, didn't go to my tenth and no plans to go to my 20th which is coming up faster than is comfortable for me :D

 

My 10th was managed by some company that also does yearbooks, graduation announcements, class rings, etc. and it was ridiculously expensive. I think it would have cost DH and me almost $200 to go, and that pretty much sealed the deal. There was nobody from high school that I wanted to see badly enough to spend that (plus go to all the trouble to get a babysitter, find something to wear etc.). I don't really have any close friends from high school. I keep in touch with a few of them through Facebook, but mostly we've gone our separate ways.

[kewb]

I went to my 10 year reunion and it was okay. I was reminded why I did not keep in touch with these people. I have not gone to one since and have zero interest in ever attending again.

[In The Great White North]

As far as I know, there haven't been any reunions. There were 600 in the class and 30th would have been a few years ago.

[freeindeed]

We didn't have a 10th. This year is our 20th and I've been contacted about my interest in attending. I am still undecided. My high school years were the worst years of my life. 22 years ago tonight my boyfriend and I were in a car accident and he was killed instantly. Six months later I was pregnant by one of his best friends (the biological father of my ds20.) I am just not too sure I want a walk down memory lane.

[DawnM]

Oh my goodness. I am so sorry.

 

My high school years were the worst years of my life. 22 years ago tonight my boyfriend and I were in a car accident and he was killed instantly.

 

[amsunshine]

This thread got me thinking. Have we all found something we can agree on, despite wide differences in faith and opinions about profanity or politics? Do hive minders all agree that high school reunions are better left unattended?

[Jean in Newcastle]

This thread got me thinking. Have we all found something we can agree on, despite wide differences in faith and opinions about profanity or politics? Do hive minders all agree that high school reunions are better left unattended?

 

 

No! I like mine. ;) I'm going to one tomorrow night. It is more of an informal gathering of friends but for my tiny school that's how all of them are. In fact, we invite everyone we know from our school to come because it is fun. I've invited two people I just met from my high school to come. One I haven't even met in person yet. They graduated ten years after us but they'll fit right in.

 

And for the record, I hated my high school boarding school with a passion and would probably have flashbacks going on campus. But the people are great.

[amsunshine]

No! I like mine. ;) I'm going to one tomorrow night. It is more of an informal gathering of friends but for my tiny school that's how all of them are. In fact, we invite everyone we know from our school to come because it is fun. I've invited two people I just met from my high school to come. One I haven't even met in person yet. They graduated ten years after us but they'll fit right in.

 

And for the record, I hated my high school boarding school with a passion and would probably have flashbacks going on campus. But the people are great.

 

Oh darn. Well, I tried.

[Maela]

I liked our ten year. I had just had DS 6 weeks before, so it might have just been that I was excited to get out of the house for a couple of hours... Unfortunately, an hour into it we got a call from my parents that Dd was throwing up and Ds wouldn't stop crying, so we weren't there for long.

 

I'm an introvert, but that doesn't mean I don't like socializing (as long as it's not more than once or twice a week). :-)

[Word Nerd]

PSA: If people want to be invited to reunions, they should keep in touch with the alumni association or make sure someone else involved in the planning has their contact information. Most people aren't in the phone book anymore, and parents may not be around to ask. I know not everyone uses it, but Facebook is the simplest, most practical way to find people and organize things like this. One of my classmates was annoyed that he wasn't invited to our last reunion, but we couldn't find him to invite. He eventually called one of his HS friends to see if we were doing anything and got the details from him (or maybe his parents? can't remember, but he found us in any case). We didn't intentionally exclude anyone. I'm not saying that never happens, just that it's a possibility that the planners didn't have contact info.

[Orthodox6]

This spring would be my fortieth high school reunion. I'm on contact lists, but have not heard of any activity. I have not attended any of the previous reunions.

[J-rap]

I would love to go to mine, but haven't been to a single one. I live across the country from where I grew up, and either we had too many kids or too little money to ever make the trip! :) My graduating class was large (550), but there was a group of about 75 of us -- the ones that started out in the same elementary school and lived in the same neighborhood -- who were very close. I would love to see them again. I'm in touch with many of them still, and many of them I have seen over the years.

[momofkhm]

We went to my 10 and dh's 20. We both went to the same high school, graduated a year apart so we both know people there. But we didn't go to either 25. Too expensive. I don't mind the drive. I don't mind seeing people. But $60-80 each! is too much to spend on a cash bar, heavy hors d overs and a band at the yacht club in town. The yacht is a misnomer. Yacht club implies something very nice and classy. Call it a boat owner's club and it's more accurate.