This past weekend, me and my classmates celebrated our 20 year high school reunion.  We came from near (Detroit) and far (Bermuda) to re-connect.  We ate, drank, laughed, talked, yelled, danced, prayed, gossiped, networked and everything else!  This weekend will go down in reunion history; not only for our class, but for those non-CT grads and our fellow CT alumni who were able to view our posts on Facebook. I’m sure that timelines were filled with our hash tag, #CT94STILLFIREDUP!  Though I could not afford to participate in each and every planned event, the two events that I hit up were off da’ chain!  I enjoyed those who attended and I missed those who didn’t.

My reunion adventure started on Friday nite with the mixer held at the Detroit Seafood Market.  One of our fellow classmates and my ex-boo from tenth grade, DJ’d the party and had it jumping non-stop!  More times than not,  the room resembled that pic from Good Times; we were moving and grooving, sweating like some marathon runners!  He more than made up for the sorry DJ at our prom whose speakers went out after the first couple of songs. I had on a cute dress which is rare for me, ’cause I’m a tomboy at heart.  Folks were dropping it like it was hot and having twerk-fests all over the room!  More than once, I had to stop myself from dancing too provocatively; music is a proven elixir for letting go of your inhibitions! Me and one classmate joked about how we missed out on some of the food because we were too busy shaking our asses LOL!  We partied like it was 1999 and as if we were all still in our early twenties! Now that the weekend’s over, we’re in recuperation mode as we get back to our respective realities.

The second and last event that I attended was the Family Fun Day picnic.  It was held at one of the hidden and recently revitalized gems of our city, Miliken Park.  There was food, face-painting, bouncies and a rock climbing wall for the kids.  Though I felt guilty, I left my kids at home because I wanted to chop it up with my classmates without chasing my super busy three year-old around.  This was the last official opportunity to kick it with our CT peeps.  The picnic was scheduled for 1:00pm-6:00pm, but my hubby and I didn’t end up leaving until after 8 and there were still some folks there when we left.  The relaxed atmosphere off of the Detroit Riverfront was the perfect ending to a full weekend of activities.

Hats off to the reunion committee, they organized a phenomenal reunion! There’s talk of going on a cruise for our 25th year reunion, I look forward to seeing that plan develop.  Initially, I had some serious mixed feelings, thoughts, and emotions about attending my reunion.  Similar to what I expressed in my previous post about reuniting with some of my elementary/middle school classmates, I was apprehensive about seeing people who were part of an often scary time in my life.  As a high school student, I lacked self-confidence and self-love.  I wasn’t slim and pretty like many of the “popular” girls who I admired during high school.  I was confident in my intelligence, but I struggled with loving my exterior.  I didn’t realize then that my interior qualities far outweighed my exterior shortcomings.  I still have those struggles at times, however I’ve come a very long way in loving me for me.   One of my classmates expressed feeling unsure about introducing her white boyfriend to our classmates, she said, “…you know people judge you”.  I agree with her, though we try to act as if we are accepting of others, we have to consciously stop ourselves from judging others’ appearance, behaviors and their mates.

Fortunately, none of my negative feelings, thoughts or emotions came true this weekend. Everyone seemed geniunely happy to see each other.  Many of us didn’t even run in the same circles during our high school years, but we hugged each other as if we were long lost buddies.  It was extra special to re-connect with those who actually were our long lost buddies.  A lot of us were Blessed to reunite with classmates whom we’ve known since elementary and middle school. Many people I recognized, some others I didn’t.  Some I  recognized, but I couldn’t even remember their names (there were over 600 graduates in our class).  Of course there were some who looked me dead in the face and didn’t speak just like in high school, but I’m learning to let those experiences slide off of my back. I’m learning to understand that people’s treatment of me is not always about me; it’s often about their own issues and struggles.  But, there were even more people who spoke and greeted me with a warm smile.  The overall energy was euphoric! I think we all can agree that we are just happy to BE HERE living and enjoying life.  Thirteen of our classmates are no longer with us; seeing their pics reminded us all of how Blessed we are to be alive.

I don’t know where we will be in the next 20 years, but I do know that during this reunion, new relationships were formed and old relationships were renewed!  This weekend is best summed up in one word:

E-ENLIGHTENING

P-PLEASURABLE

I-INSIGHTFUL

C-CELEBRATORY