Follow Up on the Reunion

For those of you who read a previous post about my husband's reunion I thought I'd give you an update on the second and last night. The schedule was this: 6:00-7:00 drinks (cash bar) and visiting, 7:00-8:00 dinner, 8:00-8:30 comments and awards, 8:30-12:00 dance with 60s music.

Here's what really happened:
6:00-7:00 Mostly visiting. Very little drinking. Much less drinking than in past years when we were much younger. Makes you wonder if the less drinking should be chalked up to age, more people on medication that prohibits alcohol (refer back to age), cost of alcohol in retirement (refer back to age). Whatever the reason it was nice. Nobody that I saw or talked to over indulged, unlike past years. In addition I noticed only 2 people go out to smoke. That's way less than before and a really good thing. Maybe people are finally old enough to know better!

7:00-8:00 Dinner was a delicious buffet. A very fattening, high carb and bad for the heart buffet but oh my goodness it was delicious. Yeast rolls, potatoes au gratin, squash/rice casserole, green beans, and prime rib with peach cobbler for dessert. Now picture the class of '63 (all of whom are 63 years old now) eating this heavy meal and then trying to stay awake afterwards. :) Hilarious....yawns galore!

8:00-8:30 Awards were given for the longest marriage (March, 1963) and the shortest marriage (July, 2008). Hope springs eternal - that's my take on the most recent marriage!

8:30 The music started and the little band was actually very good. Not too loud - I worried about that. Admittedly they weren't a lot younger than my husband and his friends and had to have the music since they could no longer be sure they would remember the words, but it was enjoyable.

Here's another thing I noticed. Not very many people danced any more. But those who did had a joy filled time, including the women who danced with each other! Two couples I'll tell you about - the first was a couple who were very good dancers. The woman was the class member and was/still is tall and thin. In her younger days she was a professional dancer for a while. She had on a slinky white dress with a beautiful white sweater over it. She took the sweater off to dance and the dress was spaghetti straps. She also had on beautiful spiked heels. And ya'll, she danced every dance in those heels. I freely admit that I haven't had on a pair of heels...well, can't remember the last time. I have no idea how she did that! No matter how wonderful those shoes were, and they were truly wonderful, I would be worried about falling and breaking a hip! I also can't imagine at this age wearing a slinky, spaghetti strap cocktail dress but she wore it well. The other couple I want to tell you about later in the week.

Now that dance was supposed to last until midnight. Half of the group left when the music started. Half of the half left were gone by 10:15 (including us!). And I'd be willing to bet that by 10:30 everyone who wasn't on the clean up committee was gone. How time does change all of us - always before this class closed down the place at midnight by standing outside still talking as the employees left!

Have you been to a class reunion lately? If not, why not? Whether you like it or not the people you went to school with impacted and changed your life. They were part of what makes you who you are today. Good or bad they helped to form you. Those that you didn't like or weren't nice people then, may be completely different today - God works many miracles in people's lives. You should go just to see those miracles! The people who were nice when you knew them before still are. It's good to see that. And at this point success is thought of in a completely different way than it was before - if you are healthy you are better off than many in your class. If you are happy you are successful beyond what many have been able to attain. It's good to go back to your roots, to be nostalgic for a while. It makes you so much more appreciative for the people in your life now and the relationships you have that have brought you happiness.