I now know what life was like for my Evanston buddies in Portland, in October 2004. Around that time, I went to Portland to run a marathon, and nearly every single one of my high school buddies showed up (or already lived there) to cheer me on, lend me strength, and get together to reminisce.
Well, here I am in Minneapolis, MN, having a terrific time with Amanda, Elizabeth, Andy, Karen (Andy’s Karen, not Evanston Karen), and Nikkia– all for Florence’s wedding.
I would post a picture of her wedding dress, but her fiance hasn’t seen it yet, and I know he blogs. Oddly, we have a few internet-acquaintances in common, through videoblogging.
Tomorrow is the wedding. Monday, we fly home. In between…. who knows? Tonight, six of us hung out, drank, and chatted about old times (ok, four of us chatted… John and Karen were remarkably patient significant others…..)
I don’t know, because John isn’t in touch with any high school friends, if other people have the same kind of relationships with their high school friends, but…. we were really close. We went through a lot of shit together. There was probably more shit each of us went through, individually, but it is no joke when Amanda said that high school would have been miserable hell without all our friends. We were a very close group, and I do miss them sometimes.
I don’t think simple graduation year makes for cause for a reunion, but genuine closeness, healing, friendships, acceptance… these are reasons to get back together every 4 or 5 years and say “hey. We’re here. We’re weird. We love each other anyway.”