Varina Blue Devils party like it's 1999?

Lately, there has been some hilarious drama and speculation about my 10 year high school reunion. The class of 1999 planning committee (i.e. two girls who were student council members in 1999) sent out emails about 9-10 months ago, stating that we needed to send them $50 so we could have a reunion. While I understand that it costs a lot of money to put on one of these things, I had no idea where I was going to be 10 days from then. How could I possibly know if I would be able to attend the reunion 10 MONTHS from that email? So, no, I sent nothing in.

Apparently, neither did any of the other 300 people I graduated with.

Now, people are p-i-s-e-d. We are (according to facts on Facebook) the first class in FORTY-TWO YEARS to not have a 10 year reunion. That is so terribly hilarious, it hurts a little. One of the girls who sent out the aforementioned email has since gotten married and the other has a baby and, according to stories heard recently, too many other things to worry about. So, people on Facebook have decided to send messages to the newlywed about the reunion. This started one of the best back-and-forth status comment wars I have seen in a long time, with the newlywed’s OLDER SISTER telling people that they are bitter and unhappy and need prayers for a better life.

Are we actually ADULTS?

I don’t know why I’m surprised by any of this. Varina is a very interesting place to grow up. It’s a huge and varied area, and so you get people like me who grew up VERY close to the Richmond City limits and people who grew up in farm country with cows and corn and jacked-up trucks and… you get the picture. Anyway, you get those two groups of people in the same school, which makes for a weird setting. In addition, though it’s near the city, it’s very isolated so you have to make your own fun. Boredom leads to stupid decisions, and then you find out all your friends have slept with the same guy who is now trying (quite unsuccessfully) to hit on you. Everyone knows everyone’s business, and that’s how we thrive. Drama and gossip are a way of life in Varina.

The weirdest part is that, it follows you. I have not lived in Richmond since 2005, and I can’t escape the drama. Worse than that, I kind of love it. Varina drama is my favorite kind because it rarely involves me. I have a friend from my high school days that also went to JMU with me, and we’ve been able to continue our relationship into something better than it was at the start. Part of this is because we both love the drama, but it’s also because we were always on the outside using common sense, watching our friends make terrible mistakes. All of his friends “dated” all of my friends, and we are the lucky ones that escaped virtually unscathed.
So now, I find myself in the midst of the newest drama, and it’s funny and nostalgic and probably more entertaining than an actual reunion would ever be, but it still makes me a little sad. Are we all so caught up in the past that we can’t get over ourselves? Does it matter what someone said to me or what I said to others when I was 14? I know people have lots of different views about who I was and what I used to do, but I’m a different person now. I don’t care if we never spoke in high school; I like to talk to people and find out where they are. I like to think about the decisions they made and see how they have thrived. I spent 13 years with some of these people, and I think that means something. Thinking about this has made me realize that, as much as I mocked and teased about this, I would have liked to attend a reunion.

So, instead of the traditional reunion, my BFF Lindsey and I are planning to celebrate 10 years since high school and over 20 years of friendship by going to Mars bar in Richmond and dancing and laughing and talking about how dumb we were and probably still are. I don’t know when this will happen, but I’m already looking forward to it. (If you’ve never had the chance to go to Mars bar, lemme tell you, it’s totally awesome. 80’s music and good drinks and no one is there to impress anyone else? My kind of place!) I say, everyone else do the same. Find that person from your old days that makes you happy, and celebrate your past and present and future. Clink your glasses and make a toast to 10 more years of drama and stories. 10 more years of friendship. 10 more years until we get to do this all over again!