Whitehall-Yearling High School - 40th Reunion, Class of 1978

Senior Photo/Reunion Badge

Last weekend I took Thursday and Friday off to attend my 40th high school reunion (see April 8, 2018 entry).

On previous reunions, I usually take an early flight on Friday, arrive early evening, have dinner with Cindy, attend the reunion on Saturday and fly back Sunday morning.

This flight for this reunion was different. For the first time EVER, I flew direct. Southwest Airlines now has a single daily non-stop from Oakland to Columbus (John Glenn International). It's about a 4 to 4.5 hour flight.

Man, what a difference. I saved so much in travel time and the drudgery of catching a connecting flight. I now can consider making weekend trips without feeling like all my time's been sapped traveling.

As the last 3 reunions have been, it was loads of fun. It was expanded to 3 events: Friday school tour, Saturday banquet, and Sunday brunch. Most attendees participated in 1 or 2 events. I attended all 3.

After the Friday tour to see the remodeled school, we met at Gatsby's in Gahanna for drinks (club sodas for me). Toward the end of the evening, we pushed picnic tables together for a high school-like girls only chat. On Saturday, I took selfies with many classmates, participated in a very fun, hammy sing along/karaoke to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, and had a few very meaningful conversations with others I've known since elementary school.

My most favorite part of the weekend was to see classmates that had not attended previous reunions connect as Facebook friends. There were at least 5 to 6 classmates that had 5 or more new friends by the end of the weekend.

If you've never attended a high school reunion because it's too painful and/or you don't have fond memories, I respect your decision. I can't speak for everyone, but my experience has been if you get to a 30 year reunion, all the cliques are pretty much gone. Everyone will have experienced death, divorce, illness, or some other kind of life changing event.

We are now on common ground on an even playing field. We share life experiences which connect us to our past and present. We reflect and look forward to seeing everyone again at the next reunion.

If you're interested in reading my blog entries from previous reunions, click here.