School Reunions
I don’t know whether it’s turning 30 that’s done it, or if it’s more to do with my Huntingtons testing, but I found myself yesterday thinking about organising a reunion of the people I went to Primary school with.
To be honest, it’s not something I’ve seriously considered before. Since I left education in 1997, I’ve only heard from two classmates, and both of those I knew only from Secondary school. I’ve never been sure whether to be unhappy about that or not - after all, I’ve not initiated contact with anyone either!
I asked my wife if she thought a reunion would be a good idea, and she suggested that Primary school reunions in general are usually a bad idea - and that people you knew at that age would be unlikely to be interested in meeting again.
However, I did what I usually do when my wife gives me advice - and I ignored it. 
I spent about an hour on various people location sites (including Friends Reunited, and another hour Googling for names I vaguely recalled - and by the end of that I had located three out of 28 class members online, and for all three I found photos of how they look now (amazingly enough all three have barely changed, and were instantly recognisable). I then sent private messages to the people listed on Friends Reunited and called it a night.
Something worked though - and this morning I had an email from somebody I haven’t spoken to in two decades, saying how much she thought meeting up again was a great idea; it turns out she only lives 15 minutes away from me! Then I had another email this afternoon, from another. Between myself and the second classmate, we’ve managed to put a full name to nearly everybody in the photo (the only one I have now, and awful quality because it was scanned so long ago). I’m the one in the red jumper by the way…
So now begins the hard part - finding everybody and making contact. Then pulling them all together, at a venue we can all get to, and quickly too - so that everybody involved doesn’t get tired of the idea before it happens! I’ve already had a couple of lucky hits on Google this evening, so it’s going well so far - although I don’t think for one moment that it’s going to be an easy thing to pull off!
The thing that fascinates me most about this experience so far, is how the children who shone within the confines of school, simply faded when faced with the harsh lights of the adult world. Others, those who were often shy and withdrawn at school, appear to have managed the transformation to adulthood with both grace and enthusiasm.
I look forward to testing this assumption when I meet them all in person.
Have you participated in a school reunion? How did it go? Perhaps you’ve organised one yourself - how did that work out? Got any tips, or great websites to share for reunion organisation?
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The first reunion I had was just 10 years after the Abitur (university-entrance diploma in Germany) - and I didn’t like it: It was all about jobs and - in a very indirect, civilized, but not less intrusive way - about income. Three years ago we had our 20th anniversary and I didn’t go - proud, serene and superior as I always am.
The funny thing was that I made looong phonecalls and pumped every one who visited for information. “How did XY look like?”, “What HE is slim now - impossible!”, “He was always such a swotter!”, “Married for the third time - hope she gets happy this time!”, I heard myself chatter.
Maybe I’ll visit 25th anniversary in two years - on the other hand side…
LOL! I’ve been emailing a few of my former classmates, and the discussion with each of them eventually turns to “I wonder what x is doing”, or “x is probably serving prison time” - that kind of thing.
Isn’t it funny how it all boils down to popularity, image and money - even 20 years after you’ve left school!
You are so right. “Did X succeed in his evil/good ways?”
Performance society is burnt in our amygdala forever - it doesn’t help to be a loving father and spouse, to pray and to meditate, to think and to discuss.
I hate it, but I can’t get rid of it. “How do I perform?” in all its clever intellectual disguises is in the core of my thoughts.
And “mediocre” is the right answer mostly, to be honest… *sigh*
Well - could you fetch me another pint and hedgehog crisps?
you wrote I don’t know whether it’s turning 30 that’s done it, or if it’s more to do with my Huntingtons testing, but…
It’s probably both. I’ve been going through something similar. Turned 40 (on May 10th coincidentally); my dad’s on a steep decline w/ cancer & Alzheimers and my brood at home jumped from 3 to 6 kids overnight (we adopted three local kids).
All of these stimuli have definitely made their mark on me in the last 6 months.
Best advice is to find solace in the (healthy) things that bring you life. Only you know what those are - so all the best.
And thanks for your advice re: my www / non-www stats dilemma.
Sounds like you’ve been having an interesting time too… I can’t imagine how tough adopting three kids must be, especially on top of the three you had already - and I have three myself so I know what that’s like!
Apart from the smoking, pretty much everything else I do is resonably healthy. I don’t drink, and certainly don’t do drugs, so many of the things that bring me life are related to either my family or our home.
No problem with the stats stuff. I like to help where I can!