Reunion

 In 2001, my 30th high school reunion was coming up.  I really don't like reunions much.  I prefer to think of people as they were instead of how they are now.  That may come from my time with Kare in Ft. Worth.  If you don't know who she is, go back several stories and see the one on her.  Anyway, Kare was very adamant about living in the now, which is why she didn't like pictures taken of her, because she didn't want to preserve the "now".  But now, I had a co-worker who dared me to go to my reunion.  She was the mother of one of my classmates.  I accepted the dare.
 I asked another co-worker if she would go with me to the reunion.  We had been out a few times already, so it was natural for her to say yes.  The reunion was at the Spring Valley Country Club.  I guess there were about 100 of my classmates there.  Some had died before now, and others had moved away, so that number was pretty good out of a class size of around 550.  We actually had 601 in our senior class, but not all of them graduated.
 When we got there, we found that some of these people brought their wives and a few brought dates, but most of them came alone.  Maybe it was the cost of the tickets.  I don't know.  We had a DJ from one of the local radio stations, and I gave him a copy of The Cobbwebs cd that had just been released.  There were many cliques in high school.  Those cliques carried over into the reunion.  I tried to hang with the old gang from our Forensics group, but they weren't real interested in including me in their conversation.  I found a couple of friends sitting by themselves, so we went over and sat with them.  They seemed happy to seem me.  But, what was really strange was some reactions I got from a few others.  There were girls (I call them girls because they were that age when we were in high school) who were hugging me.  These were the same popular girls who didn't want to have anything to do with me, when we were in school.  I was very confused.  Why now?  Had they seen my work in the movies, TV or stage?  Had they read my published writings?  Were they familiar with my music?  Or, were they glad to see I was still alive after all the bullying I endured in school?  Whatever the reason, I was glad to be noticed.  Just 30 years too late.
 We stayed until after they took the group picture, and then we left.  I ran into an old friend who had become a respiratory doctor in Charleston.  After talking to him for a couple of minutes, he remarked that I sounded like I had breathing issues.  He was so right.  I have been haunted by them ever since.
 A few months later, I got an email from one of the guys who was there at the reunion.  He had been one of the main bullies who made my life a living hell from junior high into high school.  He said he had seen me at the reunion but didn't come over to speak to me, because he was too ashamed for what he had done to me all those years ago.  He just wanted to apologize for all the pain and suffering that he had caused me.  I accepted his apology, and now we have become friends.  It is never too late to make amends.  My 50th reunion is coming up in a couple of years.  I may have to be dared to go to that one too.