reunited {and it feels so good}

I survived! My high school reunion was a huge success. I was thrilled to catch up with old friends, and even more so to chat with people I didn't really know at school - but wish I did. Luckily virtually everyone seemed to go into the night optimistically. There was hugging, there was squealing and there was dancing. Oh, and lots of drinking {except me, oddly, four vodkas and then I moved onto water...}.

I tried to approach the night like speed-dating, trying to catch up with as many people as possible. It is hard to find new questions though - but questions such as "are you married?" "kids?" "Where do you live?" and "What do you do?" are kind of essential. There were a few people where we didn't ask those questions at all - just chatted about interests etc, and that gave me just as much insight as the general questions.

There's talk of another reunion in five years time. Next time I'll wear lower heels {balls of my feet swollen and really giving me a talking to for keeping them standing for five hours in five inch heels - looked good though!}. Next time I'll take my camera out early and snap madly - I only managed around 12 shots - but others were much better so facebook should save the day.

I think the most important thing about a reunion is to leave your expectations behind. People will look different. People will have achieved something different than what you'd expected. Last night revealed that plenty of people who left in year 10 ended up going back and studying and now have post-graduate degrees. The girl-most-likely who was top of the class and went to year 12 works at her supermarket - but is blissfully happy with her life, her family and the flexibility it allows. One guy has changed his career totally and went from being a publican to now being a 2nd year apprentice panel beater.

You could tell the people who were genuinely happy and it had nothing to do with income, what they did, or where they lived. It was all about whether they were content with their life and whether they'd lived up to their own expectations.

There were the groups who naturally gravitated to their old friends. A few of us just wandered around chatting to various people - I barely stood still trying to say hi to as many people as possible. My best friend from school was the same, and every now and again we'd meet in the middle - filling each other in along the way.

Oh, what a night. Looking forward to the next one in five years, and catching up with a few new, old friends again.