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5/19/11

be true to your school

 my 10 year high school reunion is in a few weeks!
it's been such a funny process rummaging through old clippings and photos and ribbons....remembering back to days when, in the midst of having absolutely no clue, you thought you had the world completely figured out.
but i guess when your world was as small as ours was, you'd have it figured out too.

i grew up in a tiny town with one school building for all of elementary and jr high and high school.
i graduated with a class of 45 friends i had known since i was 5.
it was such a beautiful upbringing...and it allowed our roots to grow big and deep and strong.

then they tore down my beloved school last year to build a newfangled one with all sorts of bells and whistles...
 a fact my sister amy and i were none too happy about. 
there were talks of chaining ourselves to the building on demolition day....
i suppose i'm a sentimentalist.

and i'm sure it would come to no surprise to all of you that i was annoyingly spirited and peppy and outgoing back in my school days...something i've been a little embarrassed about now that none of that really seems to have mattered one bit. 
but last weekend i got the chance to visit the new school and see some of my old friends and admire decades and decades of old photos hanging on brand new walls.
 and i didn't feel so embarrassed anymore. 
because being apart of something...building on a legacy...even in such a small way, is something to be proud of.

but wouldn't you know they turned the old building into a parking lot?
hmph!

did any of you go or plan on going to your high school reunions?

12 comments:

  1. Awwwwwww. I was peppy in high school too : )
    I think our 15 year reunion happened a year ago. I am so freaking old. Darn it : )
    Great post.

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  2. what a tiny world -> i discovered you via 'sometimes sweet' and i have lived in california for over a decade, but i grew up right next door to your alma mater in troy.

    despite some nervous angsty feelings about it, i did go to my ten year reunion and was so happy that i did.

    i was quite peppy as well. if i'm really honest with myself, i still am. it has evolved, but it's still pep. :D

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  3. Oh my goodness, this post is awesome. Last year was my 10 year reunion and I actually planned it (I was student body VP, which is funny to me now). I planned and planned, and then decided not to go in the end. Unlike your adorable-sounding school, our graduating class was 850! So crazy. So when the actual reunion came around I was pregnant and just not feeling it, so instead I stayed home and watched Ghostbusters with Hank I think. Most of the girls from my "group" didn't go, and when I saw the photos I was a little sad...but we ended up having our own reunion of sorts recently.

    Anyway, my rambling aside, I also was really peppy and spirited and outgoing. I LOVED high school, which is just so nerdy to me now..and HELLO I ended up a HS teacher (for awhile anyway).

    OH, LIFE. It's so crazy, and to think back 10 years is super neat. It's great to see where you've been, and how far you've come, and in some fun instances, how nothing much has changed. I love what you said about being proud to be a part of something- I love that outlook.

    I hope if you go to yours you have the best time ever.

    Happy Friday, Katie!
    xoxo

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  4. I wish my high school experience was half as cool as yours! I wouldn't think twice about going to my high school reunion. Being a band geek was like social suicide, as one would expect :p

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  5. you girls made my morning! and diane! i love what a small world it is...if you're ever back in this neck of the woods get a hold of me and we'll go out and do something peppy! haha

    danielle, i can't imagine planning a reunion for that many people! i was class president and am planning our reunion and i'm already making a mess of it. haha.

    and dear katie. i was a flag girl. it's true. haha. although at my school band was the cool thing to do, as we didn't have football. nearly everyone was apart of marching band in one form or another. i definitely grew up in a odd little bubble. haha

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  6. i have many a fond memory of high school drama-bliss-monotony. if i'm still in the country, i'd love to make a trip for my 20th. [20th!sheesh, those years are creeping up on me.]

    love this tribute to a beautiful chunk of your history.

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  7. This would be the summer of my 15th. (Man I feel old just typing that!) I have yet to be invited to any of them. I didn't even know about the 5th year or the 10th year reunion. I am not sure if my old school will even have a 15th or if it will hold out for a 20th.
    At this point in time, I don't even know if I would go.....

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  8. My ten year anniversary is THIS year, but I don't think our school has planned anything at all, actually! That's what you get for midwest living!! :) I like your sentimental attitude, nothing wrong with loving to look back and remember. They WERE the good 'ol days!

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  9. Hallo! I'm a newbie to your blog and am absolutely smitten!

    I grew up on an island in SE Alaska...my graduating class was 13! We didn't make any effort to even talk about a 10 yr reunion. I think thats because 8 of us had grown up together since headstart. That and Facebook has pretty much brought us all together.

    Thanks for the nostalgic moment!

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  10. Eek! My 10 year is this year too. Have a blast at yours!

    Kacie
    www.acollectionofpassions.blogspot.com

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  11. You were a flag????? Oh, I was too old to even know! To this day, I regret quitting band. My eternal apologies, Mr. Jenkins.

    ps - You look stunning in your red dress! Va=Va=Va!!!!

    pss - Who are you with? Do I know her?

    psss - You don't have to answer that. I'm just thinking out loud.

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