The Why of the High School Reunion

A Baby Boomer's Lament

My 40th high school reunion is coming up next week but it’s one year late (COVID) so it’s 41. We are on the cusp of 60. I’m on the reunion committee and sending out emails to get folks to come is one of my jobs. I sent a few general announcements, like Come! It will be Fun! Can’t wait to See You! sort of things. A smattering of ticket sales.

I began losing sleep over this. Why would anyone want to come, I thought? We were mostly a bunch of Jews, with a smattering of Blacks, Hispanics and a few Gentiles. It was very cliquey. Even the European Jews snubbed Russian Jews when they came flooding in, in the late 70s. That Jew-on-Jew classism is the worst. But that’s another newsletter.

So I’m losing sleep because I just can’t figure out why we do this reunion thing. Most of us don’t even know each other and barely knew each back then. So I wrote and rewrote an email in my head and wondered if it was ok to send something like this. When I finally composed it at the computer I was actually sweating. Probably worried that the super popular people would judge me. The intellectuals would criticize me. That I would be embarrassed. All my feeling from 1981 showed up. I probably was worried that my hair was too frizzy. And I hit send.

Here is what I wrote:

Subject line: Let’s face it/personal note from Susan Weis-Bohlen

Hi there,

I’ve been thinking a lot about why we have reunions. What is the point? Let’s face it, most of us hardly know each other. We may have passed in the halls of Pikesville High School for a few years, or perhaps bumped into each over somewhere in the last 40 years. But basically, our lives overlapped for a brief period of time and then we shot off into 300+ different directions.

You may have had a great time in high school.  Or maybe it wasn’t so great for you and you’d rather forget it altogether. I can’t help but believe that our lives overlapped for some reason. We experienced a moment that (maybe) created a bond that never goes away.

I’m on the reunion committee. We have been on zoom calls for the past several months to arrange the gathering. I see these faces, many that I have not seen for 4 decades, and there seems to be an actual bond between us. I feel close to them for no reason I can’t pinpoint. But I keep thinking about it.

Maybe we have reunions because we went through something together and want to be reminded of it. In the late 1970s and early 80s who were we? What shaped us? I think of the Reagan years. The Iranian hostage crisis. The first case of AIDS was reported. There were copious amounts of quaaludes, cocaine, and pot. John Lennon was killed. Mount St. Helens erupted. The Rubik’s Cube and Post-It-Notes made their debut. And CNN was launched. Oprah was still in Baltimore.

Not to mention our personal lives, revelations, tragedies, and triumphs.

We went through this together. These events shaped us in some way. We are the last of the Baby Boomers. It’s our destiny. I’m curious. I want to see you. I want to hear your stories. Know who you are now. How you have been. That’s why I am going to our reunion.

The Venue:

3713 Old Court Road, Pikeville

Our committee chose Gourmet Girls as our gathering place, to support our classmate who owns it. COVID was devastating for us all in many ways, but especially so for restaurants. I’m really proud of our committee for choosing a locally-owned establishment to support.

Date and Time:

Saturday, October 22, 7:30 pm

Link:

If you haven’t already, buy your ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/380717595577. Ticket deadline is this Friday, October 14

Stories and Bios:

I’m not the only one who wants to know what you have been doing and who you are today. I have dozens of mini-bios our classmates have sent to me. They all say they can’t wait to read everyone else’s. Please send me your bio. Your story. Around 100 words or so – more if you are so inclined. susanweisbohlen@gmail.com

Thanks for reading.

Susan

And thank you for reading. By the way, ticket sales shot up and I received some replies that made me cry. The moral of the story? Write whatever is in your head, cause it’s in someone else’s head too.

xo,

susan