I Went to my High School Reunion
People change. That's inevitable, especially after 30 years.
For the first time in my life, I went to my high school reunion. This was our 30-year reunion. I don't know what made me want to go this time, but I did.
This wasn't the first time I had returned to Bishop Fenwick. After graduating, I went to shows to see old friends from the Drama Club perform. My sister was in concerts, so I made sure to see those. Writing for newspapers meant returning to my Alma Mater to report on a game. The reunion, though, meant returning to the old school and seeing people I hadn't seen since we said goodbye on that May afternoon in 1995.
There were plenty of people I was hoping to run into that night. Some people I had talked to after graduation, and a lot of us spent out first semester of college or two down the street at Salem State. Like a lot of graduating seniors, we drifted apart due to mounting responsibilities and chasing down our own individual paths. One friend moved to New York, and then to Texas. His oldest child was picking a college and I, for my own selfish reasons, was hoping the family would pick at least one Massachusetts campus to tour. No such luck.
I got to the reunion and looked around. I recognized just about everyone there. I got myself a drink and mingled throughout the room. More about this later on. Let me tell you about where the reunion was.
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| Arriving at the reunion. That room between the two buildings wasn't there when I was a student. |
Two Buildings are now One Big Building
If you went to Bishop Fenwick, you'll remember there were two buildings. There is the school itself, and there is the gym. Connecting the two is the library, which forms a bridge that cars drive under to get to the parking lot and athletic fields behind the school. The area under the library is now enclosed, and that's where the reunion was held. There's been a lot of work done around the school. Some of those attending the reunion walked through the building to see what has changed over the last 30 years. I'm sure there was plenty, but I stayed in the hall and chatted with some of the classmates.
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| I wore this in case people forgot about me. |
After the official reunion, we went to a local bar for some drinks to close out the evening. Some people weren't able to make it. The needed to get home and make sure their children were still alive. As a parent of three children, I could certainly understand that. We went to the bar and talked a little more before people decided they needed to get back home. Again, they have children, and they needed to make sure everything was sill standing when they got back home. I was a little upset because I got the night off from work and parental duties. To prepare for the festivities, I had rented a hotel room so I would be able to have a short drive and fall asleep after festive merrymaking and reuniting. Alas, duty called, and the night ended sooner than I was hoping it would.
People change. That's inevitable, especially after 30 years. Going back to my old school, it was interesting to see how people had changed and what they were doing with themselves. It was also interesting to hear their stories. I was sorry I wasn't able to see everyone and find out how they've been and what they've been doing, hear more about the paths they took after graduating from high school. Oh well. There's always the 35th reunion, and there's nothing that says we have to wait that long. In fact, I'm going to make plans to meet up with someone in the near future. He wasn't able to make the reunion, so we'll meet up somewhere outside the confines of Bishop Fenwick and catch up. It's something I love to do.
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| The front entrance to Bishop Fenwick High School. The path is paved with knowledge wisdom. (So I was told.) |
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