10 Years

It's hard for me to believe, but this weekend, I will be road tripping from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area for my (and my twin sister's) 10-year high school reunion. More specifically, for the Castro Valley High School, class of '04, reunion.

There will likely be a celebratory viewing of Romy & Michele's High School Reunion somewhere in there. And rather than strolling through the quad of CVHS, we'll be boozing it up at a brewery in nearby Berkeley. (Whatever happened throwing the party at the school's cafeteria, where you could sneak off and drink in front of your old locker? Was that just in the movies??)

Reunions are an interesting tradition. Especially now, with social media at our fingertips, when we don't need to have a face-to-face reunion to reminisce about the good old days, or find out who has the most successful career, or who looks different and who looks exactly the same.

We already see it all. Every day, when we scroll through our Facebook feeds. We know who has kids, and who recently traveled through Europe; who is on a career path at a major corporation, or who is preparing for their wedding. And honestly, I see and chat with all my good friends regularly, is it really worth a hefty ticket price just to clink wine glasses and say "Welp! It's been 10 years, crazy, huh?"

In short, yes. Yes it is. You only get one 10-year reunion, folks, and while everyone's high school experience is different, mine was one I have no issue celebrating. I'll see people this weekend that I forgot about, and who I didn't realize I missed. And likely, I'll get those "Am I where I expected to be in my life?" feelings that befall us all—and stress about the perfect thing to where, because duh, I wanna look good.

But that, in truth, is just another part of the tradition.

{picture of Castro Valley, CA circa 1970 by Paul MacFarlane via}