Friends, I am proud to tell you that I was announced as the “best hair” of Delta Secondary’s 20th Grad Reunion last night. Yes, thank you, I am very proud. It was an unexpected honour, and one that I will cherish. Honestly, I wasn’t paying attention when Lisa announced my name for the prize ($20!), because I was chatting with Darcy, who I actually remember from the very first day of high school. It was September 1983 at home room and at first there was a bit of anxiety in the room with all these new kids, but that anxiety quickly faded as Mr Buchko ran down the roll call giving everyone amusing nicknames as he went along (he called me Gilbert and my sister was Sullivan. Or was it the other way around?). I remember Darcy was seated on a stool at the next table and I remember at the time being just mesmerized by her beautiful eyes. Seeing her last night brought me right back to then. She’s still gorgeous.

The twentieth was great. A lot of really good vibes, a lot of laughs and a lot of hugs. A few people last night observed this key difference between the tenth and twentieth re-unions: that whereas at the tenth it was all, “So what are you doing?”, at the twentieth it was more, “How are you doing?” So true because it was just genuinely great to see people again. The cool thing is how natural it was to reconnect with people you haven’t seen in a decade or two. 

The first general impression that hits you is how well folks have kept themselves. Everybody looked great, especially the gals, who by the way, were dressed much better than the fellas. The next thing that comes to mind are how many memories are sparked instantly upon recognition of a familiar face. It all comes rushing back. Example: how Danny & I used to hang at his place after school to shoot the hockey ball around in the driveway and BS about the gals we knew. Obviously still haven’t got them figured out after more than 20 years but I guess that that’s the idea. It’s funny, because just like old times we both remarked on how great (ok “hot”) the ladies were looking last night. All kinds of other memories as well: all the guys I used to play soccer with, the people that we went to London with, registering for classes at UBC with Ross, watching the Power Hour at Rick’s, jamming with the band at Aaron’s place, his cool folks not minding our terrible noise, the first girl I made out with, sitting beside Richard as he programmed an animated golfer in Basic, the great times with Carmen. Some of the memories that come back are obscure, but the ones I liked the best were those that I had forgotten, but that others tell you about. 

My good buddy Lee in was in classic form indiscriminately grabbing as much tush on the dance floor as he could get his hands on. Some things never change. Like the way Ann can’t stand still, and Katie and Angela’s seeming constant happiness. And I feebly attempted to explain my bachelorhood to Angela, who advised that I at least get a cat! There were a number of faces that weren’t in attendance; I thought of the folks that are no longer with us; I miss them too.

As you catch up with people, after a while the new details do come fast and become a bit of a blur, but I do  remember “two kids” and bought a house” being common themes. You do end up saying some of the same things more than once, but the question I was asked the most was, “Is your sister here?”

Frankly, I was looking forward to the reunion in the weeks heading up to it, but found that in the days before I wasn’t. I don’t know why exactly, but sometimes I think of social events as a bit of a pain in the ass. There was never really any doubt that I’d go, but sometimes you coast through these things without heart. But actually the evening was great and kind of sentimental, in fact. A lot of memories. And the evening makes you think: what have you done in twenty years? How could it have gone differently? Would you have changed anything or made other choices knowing what I know now? And what the hell are you doing right now? That was a question I had running through the back of my mind at the end of the night as the cabbie and I were chatting about women on the way home. They always talk about women. But mostly I thought of risks not taken. But at the same time I was smiling about the hair thing.

Thanks very much to Barb & Lisa! We all had a great time!

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