Reunion Fever

Over the next several weeks, my social schedule includes two significant reunions. They are both "once-in-a-lifetime" events. And while I haven't been stressing about either of them, I figure I can at least begin over- analyzing. This may naturally lead to stress.

The first event is my high school reunion. Not my five-year. Not my ten. It's actually my twelve-year high school reunion. Why twelve years, you ask? There are several reasons, but it really boils down to my best friend.

He was our senior class president, and it is typically the president's responsibility to organize these events. As president, he was a true maverick. He did things his own way, with a potent mix of ambition and disregard for the school's values and traditions.

When he graduated, he made it clear to me he had very little interest in the idea of a reunion. We often joked we would never have one. As it turned out, it wasn't until the five and ten-year mark passed that some friends from our graduating class strong-armed him into making this happen.

But twelve years feels good. Honestly, what's the point of a five-year reunion anyway? At this point, you're likely to still be in touch with the people you care about. And unless you have absolutely no interests or hobbies, you're probably not thumbing through your barely-old yearbook, saying things like, "Ooooh! I wonder what (INSERT RANDOM CLASSMATE YOU NEVER SPOKE TO HERE) is up to these days. I wonder what he/she looks like now!" Um, no.

Ten year reunion? Overdone. Too predictable. But when the plan for this reunion started to take shape, I was surprised at my own reaction. It seems that just the right amount of time has passed to allow for some genuine excitement at the prospect of seeing some of my old classmates in person. And not just my friends. But even the casual acquaintances. Hopefully they all turned out alright.

But a twelve year reunion means something else as well. It means most of us have hit 30 years old. And that number... that scary, little reminder of our mortality... well, it's something we have in common now.

The only problem is my best friend asked me to MC this event with him. I agreed. And I have little to no idea of what that entails. So the stress begins.

The second of the aforementioned two reunions is a reunion of my former band Hero Pattern. This event deserves its own entry when I have more time to get my thoughts about it in order. But the details are as follows:

Friday, July 9th.

@Maxwell's in Hoboken

It is a benefit for a friend of ours named Dan Duggins. He recently suffered a stroke and became completely paralyzed. He has no health insurance. Please come out and help us raise some money for his care and recovery.

- jason