The Difference a Decade Makes

I really liked high school. I really liked calculus homework and physics labs and anatomy dissections. I hated anything social studies oriented though, and the one general ed class I was in, U.S. History with an incredibly large Ms. Freeman, felt like a grooming ground for future criminals. Honestly, I haven't been as smart as I was in high school since I graduated from it.

The daily brain exercise wasn't all of its appeal. I liked my friends. I liked playing sports. I liked going to parties at strange houses. I liked riding down country roads with a carload of awesome people listening to everything from the Indigo Girls to Rage Against the Machine. I liked being brave enough to tempt trouble but always being smart enough to get out of it. I liked being sober and being able to laugh so hard I almost peed my pants at the same time.

My high school years weren't the best of my life, but they were a pretty fantastic start to it. Which is why, when I found out about a 10-year reunion a few months ago there wasn't a question in my mind that I'd be there, hopefully with some of my best friends from then who are still my best friends now. This past weekend I got to step back into high school with all the attitude of a slightly buzzed adult, and, despite a few mean remarks that I want to regret but really can't since they were based in truth and very funny, it was just like I hoped it would be.

My favorite people to see were Jason Meenach (who I've stayed in touch with accidentally through Shakespeare in the Park and the efforts of Sarah Smiley), Joelle Bryman (who was one of the coolest chicks I've never been able to be as good of friends with as I should be), Chris Ramsdale (who desperately needed to be proved wrong for thinking I was a lesbain all those years), and Tyra Connor (who is as funny today as she was in Mrs. Wheaton's English class when we were discussing the subtle sex in Romeo & Juliet). I also liked seeing Amy Leinbach, Allison Salyer, Brad Lacy, Paige Harlow and Nicole Drewitz again, mostly because they always made me seem cooler than I am. And finally, I got to meet some of the husbands and wives, although it still feels like we're too young to be married and breeding.

I wish I could remember more from high school so I would know who I missed seeing, but all those memories are getting updated with fresh ones from the real best years of my life. By the time I make it to my 20-year reunion, I'll probably only remember the people who have carved out a place in my heart since our first meeting at Tates Creek -- Ruble, Sarah and Kristin. Those were the people that make these days matter a little more.
(Sarah came in disguise as a black man named Will for some odd reason.)