Me and Aretha at the House of Blues

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Not my high school reunion

I never posted anything after attending the Denton High Class of 99 10 year reunion. What a night! It was kind of a letdown to tell you the truth. I graduated in Panhandle with 52 people, and we had 28 show up to our reunion and about 45 there all together. It was a pretty good turnout. We only charged $10 a person too. The Denton class reunion was a little different.

For starters, you had to have tickets to the reunion in order to attend. You could pay $50 by mail before a certain date, or $55 at the door. I chose to go the $55 route since I was not positive I was going until last minute. I wanted to leave myself an "out" just in case. However, my best friend from elementary, and his wife, were going to be there so I decided I would go. I stayed the weekend with Margaret in Ft. Worth and drove the short distance to Denton for the reunion Saturday night. I got there late, which was planned. I did not know how many people I would know at this reunion since they graduated with almost 400 and only a small fraction of those went to Sam Houston Elementary. I got there and painfully handed over $55 and then scanned the room. I saw Eric and his wife, so I went over and said hi. They had saved me a spot. They were eating, so I went to get a plate too. I was disappointed in the buffet options. I'm not sure what I expected, but for $55 I was hoping for more than chips and salsa and fajitas. Not even any guacamole! Geez! I made my way back to the table, which was filled with people I did not know. I got to meet some new people, which was nice. One of the girls I met flew in from D.C. with her fiance. They ended up winning the "Traveled the Farthest" award.

I could not help but think about how few people were in the room. The reunion was held at the Denton Country Club, which was probably not the best place to have it. For starters, the DCC is not in Denton. It's in Argyle, which is very close, but still not in the same city. The room was not very big, but was staged to host maybe 200 people. I was there most of the night and there were never more than about 50 people in the room. 50 people! That's only 5 more than we had in Panhandle! And there was no splinter group hanging out in the bathroom or on the front porch. Everyone was inside! What's going on Denton High School Class of 1999 reunion? Where is the love? Apparently not at the DCC!

I don't have to be critical of everything though! I did get to see people that I had literally not seen since I was in 6th grade, and that was well worth the trip! One girl I reconnected with on facebook a couple of years ago, and has since never answered a message I posted, came over and said hello and sat and talked to me the entire night. I suppose I can chalk those two years worth of facebook ignores out the window.

Another thing I really enjoyed was being looked at by people in the room and knowing that they were trying to place me. "I just don't remember him? Did he go to school with us? Maybe I sat next to him in Mr. So and so's class?" One guy came up to Eric and said hi and chatted for a few minutes. Then he turned to me, looked down at my nametag, stuck out his hand and said, "Cole, I don't remember you." I laughed and said, "if you didn't go to Sam Houston Elementary then you don't know me." I appreciated the honesty though. I probably would not have gone up to someone and said that. I would have convinced myself that I knew that person, and then probably made a fool of myself when I pretended we had a past in high school. That's just how I roll. I did get to see one girl that I had a huge crush on in the 5th grade. Her name was Vanessa. I made her a mixed tape and I think she was my girlfriend for 2 weeks. She looked fantastic! And before I go on any more, she's married. Happily. With kids. Enough said!

Their were some people I was really looking forward to seeing that did not show. For starters, two girls that I reconnected with on facebook told me about the reunion and asked if I was coming. I had not even thought about it until then. They did not even show up! Another couple of friends that I thought were going to be there ended up not showing up, so it was kind of a lackluster night. Totally worth going, but not necessarily something to write home about. Just interesting enough to blog about. I think?

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