This weekend is the celebration of the graduating class of 1998.  It is the dreaded class reunion.

Reunions are a funny thing.

We want to reconnect with our past, to take a look back at what helped to shape us into the people that we are today.  Most of us, however, don’t really want to look too closely.

I was a nerdy teenager, and I fully own that, as I am a fairly nerdy adult.

In 2018 it is acceptable to simply own your nerdiness and move on with life.  I am the parent of some pretty nerdy kids who just claim it and move on.

Those of us who remember that far back, know that it has not always been that way.

I have joking referred to this as the “High School Musical Effect.”

The kids who are in high school now grew up in a world where Troy and Gabriella loved each other, and the whole school came together across clique lines to proclaim they were “All In This Together.”  My kids and their classmates have been shown since preschool movies, shows, and every form of Disney media that social lines are meant to be crossed.  They have grown up in the “Be you” era.

I love it so much.

There is still so much pressure and drama, as there are hormones flowing that absolutely NO ONE understands.

For my era, we grew up with the influences of The Breakfast Club, Heathers, and later Clueless.  The influences in our generation firmly implanted the clique system into our brains.

In the 90’s, we clearly we NOT “all in this together.”

Time marches on, people change, they grow.  This weekend we will spend time with some people that we have not seen in 20 years.  Others we just saw last week.  My high school best friend stood up with me at my wedding a few months ago.

The time should be interesting, as some of those feelings are pretty deeply ingrained.

Will we revert directly back to the roles we played then?  Will the changes and growth over the last two decades be enough to help us stand firm in the now?

There are events planned throughout the whole weekend, focusing on adult time, family time, and a mixture.

While I live in the town of my graduation, I am intrigued to see who will return.

More than anything, I am interested in the dynamic of what will happen.

As mentioned, grown-up me is still pretty nerdy, just hopefully less painfully awkward.