Chapter 3: Reunion

After getting lost in downtown Long Beach, I arrived at my high school’s 20th reunion at 7 PM. A woman I did not recognize immediately greeted me, by name. After an awkward second, she introduced herself like I should have recognized her and it hadn’t been 20 years since we’d last seen each other. Another fellow came right up and greeted me by name too. Okay….0 for 2 so far. Will it be a long night?

The first person I recognized was Matt Ralph. We were basketball teammates. We also spent a year at UW together, although he was earning his MA in History while I studied Engineering. He had not changed much. The basketball team had a good showing. Besides Matt, Greg Jones, Ian Filep, John Mika, and Scott Ruston attended. Only Scott brought his spouse. I had enjoyable conversations with John and Scott. John lives in Orange County with his family and owns an insurnace business. Scott is doing his own, free-spirited thing (after 10 years as a Navy pilot).

Most attendees still live on the west coast. A surprising number live in the San Francisco area. I thought I would win “furthest travel”, but someone flew in from Hawaii. They did all the typical awards…..most kids, quickest divorce, longest marriage, etc. I should have won longest marriage but lost to someone more popular. Surprised?

The cerebral nerds congregated for a while too. Funny how those of us with doctorates found each other. I ate dinner (terrible food) with Greg Weiss and his wife. Inquisitive minds always make for good conversations. The other doctorate was Mark Lakata. Mark informed me the matron of honor at his sister’s wedding last year was my high school girlfriend, Carrie. He said she did not look good and her husband was a dud. I didn't know how to respond to that comment.

The person I talked with the most was Mike Riegelhuth. He lived two doors down Via Estudillo from us. His parents still live in the same house. We ran with different crowds in high school so I did not know him well. We talked a lot though. He is a very good natured, easygoing guy. He and his family live in Maryland. Our conversation was the highlight of the night for me.

I did have some other interesting exchanges though. Mitch Booz came right up and asked me how my great Uncle was. I must have looked perplexed because he asked if John Wooden was family. Of course he is…..distantly. I also haven’t seen or talked with him in more than 20 years. Another neighbor, Alice, and I talked about our old homes. When I asked why she never had neighbors over to swim in her pool, she told me that her father was very possessive and did not want her associating with boys. Her four older brothers acted the same way. She said she never dated until college. Finally, I had a nice conversation with Shelly Wallace. She now lives in Austin, TX with her family. She admitted always having a “crush” on me, but never showed any interest because I was not part of the “cool” crowd. Funny, I always had a crush on her too but didn’t bother because of the cliques.

There were a few people that genuinely seemed pleased to see me. James Nelligan and Whitney Allen stood out. We liked each other well enough in high school. Whitney admitted surprise that I had not come to the earlier reunions. We did not talk long though because, as popular classmates, they had many folks to see.

Probably the most interesting part of the night was seeing who did not attend. I’ll admit everyone that attended looked good, seemed successful, and appeared happy. That led to a conversation with John Mika about those that did not attend. We decided they must have crappy lives. Would you attend your 20th if your answers to the typical questions were “divorced twice, several illegitimate kids, unemployed, living with my parents.”? I did hear a few instances of “did you know ‘so and so’ is gay?” In retrospect, the fact one guy is gay does not surprise me. He loved to wear gold necklaces and other bling in high school.

In the end though, most conversations were as long as “married, 2 kids, 2 cats, dog, live in NC”; the recitation that I expected. As the night progressed, people divided into the cliques and reminisced and/or caught up since the last reunion. I did not mind feeling like an outsider. I was one in high school and I haven’t made any attempts to contact anyone from high school since graduation. The reunion ended at midnight, but people were planning to continue at a local bar. Four hours was enough for me though. I left around 11 PM so I could find some decent dinner at a Carl’s Jr.