this thanksgiving break included what was supposed to be my five-year high-school reunion. except that i didn't go.

because i wasn't invited.

either i really pissed someone off - or was really that unpopular as a teenager - or my "invitation got lost in the mail."

riiiiighhht. "lost in the mail." just like my bmw-5-series-in-black-with-charcoal-gray-interior got lost in the mail too.

to explain, my high school experience was ... traumatic. and very rarely have i taken the opportunity to "look back." frankly, when i left, i vowed to never think about it again. at least i tried.

i went to a prep school that was about half latino and half jewish ... which would theoretically make me the most popular kid in school. except that not even being a jewish latina could qualify me as cool enough to hang out with the popular kids. i guess i was never into drugs. or team sports. and despite my flirtation aptitudes, i could never get any of my middle school/high school crushes to like me back.

instead, i flew under the radar, got good grades, made friends elsewhere, and found trouble in other people's pants.

so when the official-high-school-reunion-that-i-wasn't-invited-to emptied out into the bar in which i was already having an unofficial youth group reunion, my instincts took over:

hide.

but when i accidentally made eye-contact with the kid i carpooled with for three years, i knew i had to go say hello. yet as i stood before him, he looked at me puzzled. holy crap.

he had no idea who i was.

in all fairness, i weighed a whole lot less (17-20 percent less?) than i did in high school, my frizzy curls were pulled back into a bun, and frankly, i looked goooooood. but i carpooled with josh for three years, and he still had absolutely no idea who i was. which i suppose was a little bit insulting. but a lotta bit rewarding too.

i looked at the other guys josh was standing with, including one kid i had a crush on in seventh and eighth grade (but rather than admitting he might have had a crush on me too back then, screwed with my head instead. don't all teenage boys do that?). naturally, he was the only one who recognized me. (one thing is for certain in this world: embarrassment lasts a lifetime.)

every year when my miami boys and i meet up and go out to the same bar after thankgiving dinner, we run into a whole bunch of people we know from high school youth group. which is always a mixed blessing. lots of great "how-are-you-doing-what-are-you-are-up?" catching up. and a whole lot of pretending-to-be-exited-to-see-people-you-were-
content-to-spend-the-rest of-your-life-without-ever-seeing-again.

but this was the first time i had seen some of the people with whom i went to high school since our graduation ceremony. and as we began to "catch up," it hit me.

all the animosity i held for these people - being angry about not being popular, being annoyed that i was considered a dork because i was smart, being frustrated by the cocaine done in the bathrooms - simply no longer existed. i was just curious to know how far popularity could actually take you.

five years of growing up turns out to be a lifetime of maturity. well, at least for some of us.

for me, thanksgiving weekend was laden with reunions. kids from elementary school. brats from middle school. people from high school. good friends from youth group. and even a few peers from college.

and just like many of my more recent "hey-how-are-you-doing?" catch-ups, after finding out "hey-how-are-people-like-
mark-brown-doing?," no one asks what i've been up to. the response:

"i know what you're up to. i read your blog. applications suck, huh?"

which is always fulfilling when that conversation interaction happens in the presence of people who are adamantly against this "generate a following so i can publish a book" forum.

::grin::

to be honest, it was genuinely good to see people from my past. there is something organic about reconnecting with people who we grew up with. something meaningful. something reflective. i suppose that distance changes everything. and time heals all wounds. well, most of them anyway. (let's be honest. i will never, ever, get over the "johanna" episode.)

for me, the best part of thanksgiving isn't the meaningful or not-so-meaningful discussion that happens at the dinner table. or the large family gathering. or the turkey. or the weather (although miami's 70-degrees is indeed unparalleled).

the best part of thanksgiving is the childhood reunion that happens at the bar afterwards.

and inevitably, i will probably be inundated with the same youth-group reunion next year. same time. same place. and i probably won't see most of the people i went to high school with for another five years. which is fine by me.

but i'm already looking forward to my ten-year high school reunion...

...and crashing it if i'm not invited.