Hail to the Brown, Hail to the Gold!

This was my high school. I always thought it looked very regal and formal from the outside. We were named after the inventor of the arc light, Charles F. Brush. You can thank Mr. Brush for streetlights and we can thank him for being called the Brush Arcs. The what??

Our 25 year high school reunion was this past Saturday and I have to admit, it was more fun than I had anticipated. Our school district had about 5 or 6 elementary schools, 2 junior highs and 1 high school so as you can imagine, we had a really large graduating class of over 450 students. About 1/4 of those showed up for the reunion. It was a casual affair, booked at a local bar/restaurant that's owned by a former student's family.



I went with the three girls in this picture. We've all been friends since elementary school and people are always amazed when we tell them that we're just as close now as we've always been. I don't think I've ever had an argument with any of them that would be considered anything more than a disagreement. And it was usually over some idiot one of us was dating.

"He's a loser!"

"But I love him!"

"He's a cheater!"

"I can forgive him!"

In the car on the way there, we all admitted to feeling a little nervous. It was like starting your first day of school all over again. Will they like me? Is this outfit okay? Am I thin enough? And on and on..

However, once we got there, it didn't matter what anyone was wearing, who was thin, who was fat or who was bald. It was just nice to see old friends. Although, I have to admit that I did avoid walking past some people I really didn't want to talk to. Hey, they looked at me funny so they started it!

Given that our class was so large, there were a number of people there that I never knew in school and some that I knew but didn't recognize. One guy came up to hug me and I had to casually glance down at his name tag when I pulled away to see who the hell he was.

No, Vince wasn't there but I did see a guy that I've had on a crush on ever since high school. I never thought he even knew who I was so when he stopped me and kissed me on the cheek on my way past him, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I felt like Marcia Brady when Davy Jones kissed her. I haven't washed my cheek since.



I learned a few things on Saturday night:

1. The grass isn't always greener.

2. A letterman's jacket doesn't look hot on a 43 year old man.

3. Even geeky guys have mid life crises and leave their wives for younger women.

5. No one remembers my dress getting stuck in the back of my pantyhose at Heart Hop.

6. You can go home.