Reunions, Reunions

Lately there's been a mini-flurry of activity in my life associated with reunions. The first, in a few weeks, is actually one that I instigated. Thanks to Facebook (again!), I found a couple of people I'd worked with at UCLA at the pizza place (which apparently doesn't exist anymore--now I'm sad...), and a couple of them were in touch with other people we'd worked with, so I suggested we get together in Westwood for dinner (and Diddy Riese cookies, of course). One friend and I agreed to bring photos (which will either be hilarious or cringe-inducing), and I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone. The next one is in about a month, and it involves a bit of travel, as it's a school reunion at a fundraiser for the small private school I attended from kindergarten through 6th grade. I have no idea who or how many people will be there, some of whom I haven't seen in maybe 30 years. There's a little more at stake emotionally with the second one, since it involves going back to my hometown (which I miss dearly from time to time), seeing parents of students who knew my mom but who might not know she died and having to talk about that a lot, and possibly seeing people who weren't necessarily nice to me during that time and wondering if we're both past that (I surely hope so, but I don't know).

I'm not as much of a nerd now as I was during my elementary school years (but I'm always afraid in situations like this that I'll still be thought of as one by some people), but I do weigh more and have a few more facial lines (at least I still have all my hair, which is probably not true for at least a few guys from my class). I'm more excited to possibly see some of these people (including my favorite teacher ever, who's getting a retirement tribute at this reunion) than I am my college friends, only because going to that school was such a profound experience for me, it's linked to my hometown, and I haven't seen a lot of them for sooooo long, but it also makes me a little more anxious. I mean, when the inevitable question "What do you do for a living?" comes up, I feel like I should have more to say than "I'm an as-yet unpublished children's author." (If I say "I'm a children's author," the next question is invariably "Oh, anything published?" This way I head off that question at the pass...) I'll be traveling without Mr. GJ, so I won't have him to lean on during this event or decompress with after it. I'll also be seeing some family during this trip, which can be fun but a bit nerve-wracking (depending upon exactly which relatives are there). I want to take a side trip into New York while I'm there, but am trying to figure out if it'll be logistically possible with my schedule. All of which adds to extra potential stress that I won't have with a simple jaunt over to Westwood for dinner.

Even if there is some anxiety attached with either reunion, though, the positive aspects still outweigh the negative ones. I can't wait to trade war stories of pizza ovens with my college co-workers, and when I go to the other reunion, I bet I'll manage to get some fun out of it even if a mean girl from 4th grade still sees me as someone to whom she can make nasty comments. After all, how often do you get to see your favorite teacher and see how people turned out after 30 years, all in the same place? It'll be a first for me!