And now, on to the reunion!
I first heard about it from my cousin who had gotten the Save the Date card. They didn’t have my current address but I did then get the real announcement. (And imagine my surprise when my cousin didn’t show up.)
In Immaculate Misconceptions, I described the 20th reunion and vowed never to go to another one. But, hey, this is the 50th, and thought I couldn’t miss that.
Joyce wrote my name on the name tag, and of course put the “Dr” there. She’s always made certain that people know my title (although sometimes I then feel compelled to give medical advice which, with my theatre experience, I can do convincingly.)
Unfortunately, the people I hung around with most in high school didn’t attend. In fact, I’ve pretty much lost touch with all but one of them. You can see who they are in my high school film Duel in the Park. (https://youtu.be/boFErZvKkO4)
My major observation from the evening: the men who were my acquaintances in high school said, “Steve!” And shook my hand, and we chatted a bit. The women who were barely acquaintances in high school looked at me and then looked away, continuing to ignore me into the sixth decade.
And of course, I had to resort to what I call “name tag-sniffing”—when you look at a person’s face, don’t recognize them, so you look at the nametag—which, at least here, was a successful maneuver. At my theatre conferences, that often resulted in a quick look-away by people who did not recognize me and apparently didn’t care to learn more.
I did enjoy the evening, signed three copies of Immaculate Misconceptions, and caught up with a bunch of people. I also took a moment to look at the list of those who couldn’t join us.
It was a fun event and I was glad to go. We’ll see how future reunions go…
MUSOFYR 