VI Reunions - Laughing Matters

For VI and similar high school reunions

Here are some cartoons in my picasa web album on school and college reunions.

High School Reunion Cartoons

Sample reports of VI reunions

September October 2008, Syndey and Melbourne

Perth 2008

50th Golden Anniversary Reunion July 2011, Putrajaya

Size does not matter :-). The reunion can be small. Here is one held in the canals in Birmingham, England.

Here are some foreign reunion stories I found. Thanks to their authors.

The High School Reunion is a Time to Celebrate The "Invisible People"

by Richard Burton

Few things grab us by the collar and humble us as much as our high school reunions. They come back,every ten years or so, to haunt us like a ghost from the past. And maybe that's just what's so humbling about them...our youthful past is exposed once again-laid bare like an open wound, and brutally juxtaposed with our current realitynbsp; I'm from the class of 1969. What a year, Nixon was President;the Vietnam War raged out of control; men landed on the moon; a half million young people gathered for the Woodstock Festival; the New York Mets won the World Series; and gas was 35 cents a gallon.

I say fortunate because reunions are the great equalizer. There is a satisfying irony in finding out that the captain of the football team now has bad knees, a beer belly, and is thrice divorced. That the gal whom you thought was a goddess now looks more like the gal at the checkout counter at K-Mart. And that the star honor student who later went on to receive a Ph.D. in nuclear astrophysics, has dropped-out, moved to Oregon, and opened an ostrich farm.

Now this is the best part. Because most of us were among the Invisible People in high school, we actually held up much better over the years than our more visible counterparts, the Jocks, the Brains, the Queens, and the Hoods. Our legacy is too blurred to really hang a label on. We were diamonds in the rough. We hadn't blossomed yet. Had not reached our peak. And thus, it is all but impossible to notice a glaring difference between then and now, because we seem today, about how we seemed back in high school... only with wrinkles. We survived high school without too much baggage, and therefore, assimilated into proper society without much difficulty. Many of the Jocks, Brains, Queens, and Hoods had a far more difficult time of it out in the "real" world in spite of their former lofty positions.

Actually, from my keen observations at these reunions, I would say that after the Invisible People, the Hoods fared best in the long run. Some had gone into the Marines after high school. That'll usually straighten a person out. Some had even done a little prison time. Ditto. But most had simply outgrown their bullish and antisocial ways. These Hoods are now, for the most part, respectable members of society, married with 2.5 kids, and coaching soccer on weekends.

But back to the undefined masses, the multitudes of us who didn't stand out. Who just did what our parents and teachers told us to do. Who simply went to class, did our homework, got a good nights sleep, and did it all over again the next day for 4 long, inglorious years. All withoutour 15 minutes of youthful fame. Here's to the tru surviviors...us...the Invisible people.

Smoking in the Bathroom

by Denisa Howe

About eight years ago, I decided to go to my high school reunion. It was being held in a big hotel, with a promise of an elegant dinner, wild, romantic dancing and drinks if you cared for one. I spent weeks picking out a dress. It's hard to find a dress that says fun, exciting, done something spectacular and I'm not nervous. I found a nice white backless evening dress; if nothing else, it said style. My husband thinks we women worry too much, but I think the men don't worry enough about their clothing. I have fond memories of high school. It was a part of my life when all the awkwardness left; I liked myself and fit in with most of what was going on in my school. I had a good circle of friends, and a few are still very close to me. I actually can't think of anything bad that happened then.

The evening arrived and I was ready. I had an extra pair of panty hose in my purse, just in case. My husband and I arrived on time, signed in and were correctly tagged. We found our table and I was happy I was sitting with friends I knew well. We chatted and ate a surprisingly good meal. They served grilled chicken breast and broccoli. Vanessa and Julie though it was funny, they were still trying to feed us broccoli. Afterwards they gave announcements about our classmates, the ones who had succeeded, who lived the farthest away, who had the most children; I came in second on that one. They showed a video of old pictures and it was really nice. They honored several of our former teachers and educators.

The dance was a lot of fun. They had music from our era, which now is considered classic rock. We danced, talked, and just re-connected with each other. I excused myself for the ladie's room and my friend Julie said she would go with me. We walked in and had to laugh. Mrs. Jens was in there and we had caught HER smoking in the restroom! Mrs. Jens had been one of our teachers and was most famous for catching students smoking in the restrooms. I cleared my throat and put my hand on my hip, "Now Mrs. Jen you know you're not allowed to smoke in the bathroom and it looks like we need to take a stroll to the office." Mrs. Jens laughed. "How do you think I caught you all so often?" It was great to see her and even catch her breaking a rule. All those years in high school and I never knew she smoked. I guess it meant for us to not know. Now it kinda has me wondering; which of my teachers did smoke?