Well, that’s a wrap on the reunion. I suppose it was a success seeing that I didn’t manage to spontaneously combust. Although, a baby alien did try to birth itself from the side of my skull, but healthy, un-recommended doses of Excedrin kept it at bay for the weekend. Several of you would have been proud as I troopered through being touched and hugged. See, supposedly it’s tacky to wear a big sandwich board that says “Hi, do not touch me” so no one there was forewarned and it was only fair that I suck it up. In fact, my ex-neighbor kept one hand either on my neck or around my shoulders for about 15-20 minutes straight. I’m still twitching from that encounter.

Everybody mostly looked the same – the same in that way that forensic computer animators age pictures of lost children. You end up squinting a lot before finally acknowledging, “Ok, yeah I see it now.” At one point Jason, one of the hosts, looked over at a guy and said, “You remember Beth”. The big tall guy leaned over, hugged me and said “of course I do!” Good for him, because I was at a loss (partly stunned by the touching and my brain rapidly repeating, “get off get off get off”) and finally had to resort to the less than subtle staring at the name tag.

John Kelso made an appearance. Not only did I miss it and will be kicking myself for months on this one, but I missed him coming in and asking “where is Beth?” Me and my timing…

Overall it was about what I expected. I clung to the friends I knew like a tick and refused to make rounds around the room. Thank God for other people who are way more adventurous; I would have never seen them otherwise. Karen admonished me with a, “I haven’t seen these people in 20 years, I’m talking to everyone – not like I’m going to see them again soon.” I loved her attitude and clung to my chair.

I’m really trying to pull a story out of this but am coming up with nothing at the moment. It was a lot like being at a company Christmas party with outdated pictures and mood music provided by Duran Duran. Hopefully, I’ll have pictures soon.