Go Cats!

Please allow me to wax nostalgic for just a few minutes.  This weekend we had a reunion of sorts to celebrate graduating from Plano Senior High School 15 years ago.  And while I have struggled quite a bit with saying 15 years - it feels good to actually be that far into adulthood.   It was indeed a masterpiece of events.  Looking back, I was so unsure of myself and so worried what others thought of me.  Fifteen years later, it was fun to see that I think we all felt that way and we all truly liked each other back then.

The years have gone by in a flash and according to some, “I have not changed a bit.  I am exactly the same”… which I am going to take to mean that I have not aged at all and the Botox was a wise investment.  However, I think it might be more focused on the fact that I am still loud, a little bit obnoxious,  very garrulous and still want to be the center of attention.

There were people there that I saw the day before and people I hadn’t seen in 15 years.  There were people there that I was “friends” with in high school but now through the magic of facebook would count as good friends (Elicia Eckert… I love you.)

There was my friend Lynn that played on the Gremlins with me in like the first grade.  I love the fact that she was as unathletic as I was and now we can laugh about it. She is a beautiful mother now with a great family and life.

My friend Nathan was there.  In white jeans.  I’ve known Nathan just about my whole life – our parent’s were best friends.  We were thrown together by fate since our sister’s were friends -forced for most of our childhood to spend time together.  What I love about my friendship with Nathan is that while our parents don’t hang out anymore and our sisters see each other every now then… Nathan and I are the ones that stuck together.  Years later, I know, without a doubt that I could call him to bail me out of jail.  And he’d do it.  He’d leave his wife and 2 daughters at home to get me out of prison.  He is that kind of friend.  I won’t go into the details, but just know that most of the evening Nathan wore a wildcat banner around his shoulders like a cape and fell off the bar.  It was glorious.

There was my friend Kyla.  With her amazing smile and generous spirit.  She was one of the smartest people that I knew (and still know).  And my friend Courtland, that I know I haven’t seen in 15 years.  But we ruled Bent Tree North back in the day.  He had a trampoline in his backyard.  He is days away from being a dad.

It was room filled with memories and good times.  There were fans of this blog – galore – and you know I ate up every word people said to me about how much they loved my posts.

There were friends missing from the celebration, too… but who are now living vicariously through terrible pictures of the night. (Abe and Campi…. I can’t believe you weren’t there to mock me like you did in high school).

I think what I liked most about the night was that a group of people – joined once only by geography – got together and now had their collective memories in common.  We all had different experiences, we’ve all gone different ways, become different people… but for one night we were all just kids again.  Just with money and a legal bar tab, this time.

Comments

[Nikita 5952]

It was a glorious evening. It was beyond wonderful to see so many faces from days past and revisit the people that for 5,6,7 years (depending on whether or not I met them when I moved to Huffman in 6th grade)were part of my daily life--the people I spent more time with than my own family. The word that keeps coming to mind is beautiful. There is such beauty in laughter and reconnecting. One of the best parts was there were conversations that I swear left off in May 1995 and picked right back up in August 2010 without a hitch. I'm not sure if that means we haven't grown or matured at all OR that we simply are forever intertwined in the hearts and minds of the other. I choose the latter. Truly, it's never "goodbye". . .it's just TO BE CONTINUED.

~Kyla of the Smile & Spirit

p.s. Did I really miss Nathan falling off the bar? I knew I left a tad too soon.

[Elicia]

Thanks for the shout out! I loved seeing you, wish we lived closer. And Nathan falling off the bar was the highlight of my husband's night...