Away I Go: 30-Year High School Reunion

The event of the summer of 2010 is at last on the horizon... my 30-year E.C. Glass High School reunion is this weekend. I take wing Thursday from New York to Lynchburg, Va., for a double-dose of all the reflection and reminiscence anyone could possibly stomach.

The festivities begin Friday evening with a casual gathering at a local restaurant. I passed on this at the 10th and 20th reunions, preferring the more controlled environment of the formal event Saturday.

But this time, as I noted in my "One Month From Today" post, "Facebook has opened up a wondrous doorway to the past. Frivolity flows between classmates who were pals in primary school before we went our separate ways in high school. We reminisce as a united group about stuff in the 1970s that's uniquely ours... It's a joyous reconnect that makes the promise of our face-to-face reunion in one month all the more a journey well worth taking."

And thus, I'm damn jazzed about seeing so many faces from the past: 90% unbridled anticipation and admittedly, 10% apprehension, which I figure is pretty normal.

Saturday is the main event, which my dear pal Donna Mae will be attending with meese (even though that kid graduated a year after me), which gives me a hand to hold to salve that 10%. Of course, as soon as I'm in the moment, and the familiar faces appear—and the anecdotes start cascading—I know it's all gonna be a sweet sentimental sequel.

Many loathe the idea of such touchstones. We're all damaged by high school—god knows I had to deal with the "sissy" shit—but times change. If we grow up right, we forgive and forget. And savor the fact that we've lived long enough to celebrate so much history.

And if I'm real lucky, maybe I'll even get to say hello to Rob, the cutest boy in the class.