Am I really this old?

This past weekend I had my 20 year class reunion.  Twenty years.  That's two decades, 1,040 weeks and roughly 7,304.84 days.  Twenty years ago I was finally 18 and didn't have to use a fake ID to sneak into the Honky Tonk or Phase 4.  Twenty years ago, I didn't wake up with sore muscles and look at my face and contemplate the plastic surgery I want to have in a few years.  Twenty years ago, I got to see, on the daily basis, some of the best people I've ever met as we strolled the halls of Picayune Memorial High School.

I was pretty nervous about the reunion weekend.  I had put a lot of time and effort into planning a weekend that I had hoped everyone attending would enjoy.  Things are tight, financially, for just about everybody so asking people to spend money to come to New Orleans was something I was a little iffy about but once the ball was set into motion there was no turning back.  I knew that this plan was not going to please everybody, that's an impossible task, but as long as those that chose to attend were pleased I felt that my job would be accomplished.  What I didn't expect to encounter was how easy it would be to just slip right back into the zone with a group of people that I've known for a huge bulk of my life and I also didn't realize how much I miss those that I don't get to see and how much I value the ones that I still see all the time.

I don't know about you, but when I get around people that I've known since a very young age, I have a tendency to regress back to that age.  This weekend was no different.  How many 38 year old women do you know that's going to strike a Charlie's Angels pose before going on a covert mission to a bar in the middle of the night to rescue their intoxicated friend from a place now affectionately known as "Razors"?  And let's not forget to put our jewelry back on before such missions are to take place.  If you don't have jewels, your friend will grab some out of her purse and offer them to you while I'm on the phone begging for beer from an unknown caller who, it turns out, is one of your dearest friends.  I'm sure we all have stories like this and if you don't you should have popped down to room 312 because it was the looney bin but I'd have it no other way and that was just Friday night.

Once reunion time was upon us, we paraded on down to the Bourbon Vieux and anxiously awaited the opening of the bar.  I had already seen several people Friday night and during the day on Saturday but this was the "official" unveiling.  You know what I'm talking about...everybody dressed up and ready to not look their age.  Well, it worked.  Everybody did look fantarvalous beyond words and it really was a dressed up version of high school but everyone was a little more confident.  I had one friend tell me that his mom said, "You really did have a great graduating class.", and she was right.  Everyone just molded together like we had never missed a beat.  There was laughing, hugging, picture taking, dancing, more laughing to the point of spitting out beverages and three hours flew by like a flash.  It was like we jumped in a time machine except we had good hair and didn't tight roll our jeans.  And while I sat and watched as everyone laughed and carried on I realized that I was in the presence of some superbly awesome people.

I have said this many times before, "If you don't have friends like mine, you should get you some.".  The same goes for my classmates from the Picayune Memorial High School Class of 1991.  You are all so great and I want to thank you for coming, having a good time, being so terrific and making a weekend that could have been stress-filled one of the best I've had in years.  Thanks for all the kind words before, during and after the reunion.  You honestly have no idea how much your sweet comments have meant to me.  This event was too much fun to only have every five to ten years and ya'll are too great to only see every five to ten years.  We all made promises to get together more often and I really hope that that is the case.  Until then, be safe, stay fun and God bless and thanks for not making me feel so old!!!

Much Love,
Nickie