Why The Internet Has Made Me Excited About My High School Reunion

It has been 20 years since I donned this outfit for my standard-issue senior pictures. There was no creativity back then. I think everyone in my class went to the same studio and had the same 3 variations of pictures done. Photography has come a long way since then and I am so happy about that. This pose needs to die in infamy.

Donnie and I went to my 10 year reunion just a few months after we had got married. It was a blast. I went to a very small Catholic high school with only 55+ people in my graduating class. Maybe half of them showed up at the reunion? It was fun and there was dancing to old music and drinking and playing games and we were just very happy we went. No drama like the movies show you, not in a class that small.

Well! Twenty years is upon us and I didn’t realize we were going to do anything until I got added to a Facebook group last week. WE’RE HAVING ANOTHER REUNION! And you know what? I’m a million times more excited this time. Wanna know why? Because in the last several years since the popularity of social networking has increased exponentially, I have discovered all sorts of awesome places of common ground with past classmates! There’s the guy who loves Doctor Who and the girl who reads YA Fiction. There are the several who watch the same shows I do and some who like to run. I know so much more about these people going into this reunion than I did going into the last one, that it will be simply a reunion of friends. Did your daughter have fun at her camp? Did your son like fishing? Who is your favorite on this season of So You Think You Can Dance? What’s it like being back home from living overseas?

These are all the types of things I can ask my classmates about thanks to their use of Facebook and Instagram. It’s going to be way better than last time!

The problem is, because I feel so familiar with so many of these people, there’s no safeguard on my behavior like there would be if I was nervous about making a good impression after 20 years.

So…when they posted a pictures of the invitation on the Facebook page? I immediately typed in, “Woooooo!!” as a comment and “liked” the photo.

Now…the girl who posted it is A) Someone I was close to back then and B) Someone I’ve stayed in touch with via the internet the last few years. So, it wasn’t a big deal to me. I’d leave the same comment on her personal stuff on Facebook. But then, as the day went on and no one else posted anything I thought, “Oh, man. Was that a really dorky thing to do?”

Because…you know…this is our 20-year reunion. We’re probably supposed to try to pretend like we’ve gotten cooler over the last two decades.

Luckily, another friend eventually came and rescued me by leaving another comment and I no longer felt like the dork who “Woooo!”ed at her reunion invitation.

But, you know what? At least you know what to expect from me. I’m going to, “Wooo!” at some point, I’m going to dork out about something meant for teenagers, I’m going to spill something and I’m going to trip over something. No matter what I do or where I go, those three things are guaranteed from Kim at any social gathering. At least I’ve gotten one of those things out of the way early.