The First

For some reason, it's different going to a wedding of a high school friend that graduted with you. The reminiscing begins, particularly since we will arrive at our 10th year reunion next year.

This past weekend The Joe and I attended my friend, Ron's wedding. He and Amanda had the ceremony and reception at a Sacramento winery. As I had feared, there was no shade. Unfortunately, I left my parisol at home so there was no way out of it. I spent most of the ceremony shielding the sun with the pi-pi I recieved from a prior wedding. As the evening progressed, a breeze began to blow and brought some much needed relief to the occasion.

To my surprise, more people than I had expected have actually settled down since high school, well somewhat. The ever so intelligently funny, Dave Pace is now happily married to a fellow UCLA PhD Physics candidate, Ann. She strives to be a lifetime student as much as Joe. What Physics PhD holders do after academia is a bit beyond my reach but I'm sure they have their share of fun. Randy fascetiously stated how Dave and Ann's children will most likely be solving calculus problems when they're 5 years old. Ron obtained his MBA about two years ago, I believe. (That reminds me. I need to snag the GMAT review materials I sent him a while back.) Ron's wife, Amanda, holds a masters degree in Psychology, I think. Randy has a burgeoning career in sales but more importantly, comedy and now lives in Sacramento with his younger sister, niece and a female roommate. It sounds like he's getting his act in gear to be more active in the entertainment industry so can't wait to see him bust out. Ms. Amanda Secor is now also married and lives somewhere in the East Coast - Boston, I think. Her military husband is on duty in Japan. At least it's not the Middle East.

All of us mentioned that we didn't want to go anywhere near our reunion. I'd go based on the guests, venue, food/beverages and cost of the event. I'm not paying $75 for a rinky dink event. I need to be entertained the entire freakin' damn night.

That leads me to ask, is 10 years after high school really enough for us to "make something of ourselves?" Who do I know from high school with advanced degrees or are working on them? - Barnett, Ron, Debbie, Lea, Becca, Celina, Dave, Ceferina, Sara. I think that's about it, at least to my knowledge.

So what's the need to have "accomplished" something by the time of our high school reunion? Can't we simply state that I've finally reached the point in my life where I'm comfortable with myself whole-heartedly? I think that's a major accomplishment within itself. How many people can state that at our age? How many people have come to realize that without comparison to the lives of others? Is this lame to ask? But I truly feel that too much time is wasted on worrying whether you're better than someone else. Why be ashamed of your personal growth? I guess I would go to our high school reunion, only if the emphasis on accomplishment is not completely based on material possessions.