Went to the Holy Spirit High School reunion last night--no, not one of the big ones--and have come to the conclusion it was better left unattended, at least by me. It's been only five years since a more significant one and that's too soon to meet again. Sure, it was mildly enjoyable, but so is settling down at home with a good book and a glass of wine.
Not sure why "the committee" (which, incidentally, is comprised of the same people every year; no fresh ideas for them) chose the venue, as it was up a narrow flight of stairs on the second floor. I have no problem with that, but several others did. The food was nothing special: the usual pasta dishes, chicken, and salad, plus ordinary bakery cookies for dessert, so the menu was on the low end of cost for the restaurant. With the cash bar, it makes you wonder what the forty bucks we shelled out was for. It wasn't as if there was a program or anything extra at all, so why would it be that much?
As for my fellow grads, it finally dawned on me that with just a few exceptions, I found them either obnoxious or boring. Yes, that's a bitchy thing to say, but there it is. There seemed so many "types": the former cheerleader who never got over it; the pious who love to discuss their devotion to the church; the flirt who thinks she's still a 16-year-old in the back seat of a Chevvy; the feeble (one guy is blind, another can barely walk); the pathetic, including those who have lost their spouses--hey, that's me, folks! Lots of people expressed their condolences, and all of them, without exception, referred to Pat's death with stomach-churning euphemisms: "passed away" or just plain "passed" were most popular, and one actually intoned that he's now "at rest."
There was no program aside from a letter John G. read from a grad who became a priest. A few of us took pictures--I took several, but haven't transferred them yet--then the thing broke up and I was home by 9:30.
Hey, Mary, you were right all along.