Reunion Season

I have written a little column for the local paper about my upcoming reunion (high school) I hope you enjoy it. Depending on how my reunion goes I may not be able to blog for the weekend. I am leaving for Ottawa on Friday morning and will not be back till late Sunday... let's hope lots of neat stuff happens so I will have lots to write about. Till then here is my column.

There is a misconception that there are only two seasons in Canada, winter and the season of construction. I however, feel that we need to add another- the season of reunions. Coming from a small family with no need for the phenomenon known as the family reunion (I mean gawd, I just saw you seven years ago... what’s the rush?) I find myself drawn to the idea of attending my high school reunion. I mean why would anyone want to go to a high school reunion? This is the very question I asked myself as I filled in the registration form... for my high school reunion. High school for me was very painful. It is for most of us. The time of growing up, just like the Alice Cooper song, “Eighteen” in the middle of childhood and adulthood and not sure of which hood you prefer. Many of my high school mates I have found on the official reunion site known as FaceBook. But photos can lie and meeting the person again in the flesh will be different and revealing. The first night of the reunion is in a pub in the Byward Market area of Ottawa. Always a better idea to relive a nightmare while under the influence of alcohol. People always seem smarter and better looking that way. The second evening is a dinner and dance affair in the hallowed halls of Colonel By High School. They are even going to give us a memento of the evening, but I am sure that being that wallflower, yet again, will be memento enough for me. Here are a few sayings to help you get through the reunion season.

Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts. ~Author Unknown
If you don't believe in ghosts, you've never been to a family reunion. ~Ashleigh Brilliant
People seem to get nostalgic about a lot of things they weren't so crazy about the first time around. ~Author Unknown
It's never safe to be nostalgic about something until you're absolutely certain there's no chance of its coming back. ~Bill Vaughn
Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days. ~Doug Larson
Things ain't what they used to be and probably never was. ~Will Rogers

Nostalgia is a seductive liar. ~George Wildman Ball

There are lots of people who mistake their imagination for their memory. ~Josh Billings
Bring the past only if you are going to build from it. ~Doménico Cieri Estrada
What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now. ~Author Unknown