It's also the time of year when everyone is heading back to school with backpacks full of crisp new notebooks, sharpened pencils, and Trapper Keepers (I wish!). And I am reminded that my 20th High School Reunion is just a few weeks away.
Though I've never really been bothered by getting older, this realization hit me a bit more succinctly. Where did 20 years just go?!?! And then my Dad told me he recently had his 50th reunion. And I felt better, if only a little.
While news of the reunion spread over social media, several friends from all over the country started discussing the possibility of attending. After deliberately not attending our 10 year reunion, my curiosity was piqued enough that I actually considered going this time.
Until I imagined how the very first exchange would go:
Me: Hey Chris (guy I was majorly obsessed with Senior year). How are you? Can you believe it's been 20 years?! Tell me what's happened to you over the last two decades.
Chris: Wow, where to start... After graduation, I went to Princeton for my undergrad and then to Harvard Medical School. As a Pediatrician, I joined Doctors Without Borders and traveled the world to help sick kids. While I was in Nigeria, I met an amazing woman who had just joined DWB and several years later we got married. We now have 3 amazing children - Michael, Robert, and little Emma. Michael is a musical prodigy and has performed in concert with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and John Legend. Robert is the world's youngest Presidential expert and has been on The Tonight Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and is scheduled to sit down with Oprah next month. And little Emma was in a Baby Gap commercial! How about you?
Me: (slight pause while I rejoin my lower jaw with the upper) I'm not married. I don't have kids - I have cats. I don't have a fancy job title or my dream job. I'm not at my ideal weight and would rather go out for dinner and drinks than go to the gym. So I'm going to finish this drink in my hand and go see if the bartender has anything available in a Big Gulp size.
And that is why I will not be going to my 20th Reunion. To quote Minnie Driver from Grosse Pointe Blank, "Everybody's coming back to take stock of their lives. You know what I say? Leave your livestock alone."
Until I imagined how the very first exchange would go:
Me: Hey Chris (guy I was majorly obsessed with Senior year). How are you? Can you believe it's been 20 years?! Tell me what's happened to you over the last two decades.
Chris: Wow, where to start... After graduation, I went to Princeton for my undergrad and then to Harvard Medical School. As a Pediatrician, I joined Doctors Without Borders and traveled the world to help sick kids. While I was in Nigeria, I met an amazing woman who had just joined DWB and several years later we got married. We now have 3 amazing children - Michael, Robert, and little Emma. Michael is a musical prodigy and has performed in concert with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and John Legend. Robert is the world's youngest Presidential expert and has been on The Tonight Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and is scheduled to sit down with Oprah next month. And little Emma was in a Baby Gap commercial! How about you?
Me: (slight pause while I rejoin my lower jaw with the upper) I'm not married. I don't have kids - I have cats. I don't have a fancy job title or my dream job. I'm not at my ideal weight and would rather go out for dinner and drinks than go to the gym. So I'm going to finish this drink in my hand and go see if the bartender has anything available in a Big Gulp size.
And that is why I will not be going to my 20th Reunion. To quote Minnie Driver from Grosse Pointe Blank, "Everybody's coming back to take stock of their lives. You know what I say? Leave your livestock alone."
No comments:
Post a Comment