Pics from the party HERE
Link to Carol's Classmate photos HERE
High school reunions can go in different directions. Sometimes they can be a painful reminder of loves lost, time that could have been spent doing something different, wondering how the lives of your fellow classmates have gone since you parted oh so many years ago, things like that. Other times they can simply be a reason to get together with people you might barely remember, but the shared experiences of your youth take the differences that kept you apart as teenagers and make them inconsequential.
That was reason enough for me to get on a plane last Thursday, fly to Fort Lauderdale, and meet with my now 30 years gone by acquaintances and share some drinks at a Polynesian themed restaurant and bar called the Mai Kai and swap stories about where we've been and what we've been doing for all these years.
This was my first reunion of what would have been my graduating class from Northeast High School in Oakland Park, Florida. The reasons behind WHY I didn't actually graduate with my class would fill another blog if I was inclined to say exactly what happened, but I'm not so inclined and I won't. You'll have to know me a lot better than that to get that story. I did go to my class's Prom with a lovely lady named Lois who I thank for helping me put my life back together and I'm sorry we're no longer in touch. Needless to say the reason behind that is also my fault (which I'm also not going to disclose) and I'm sorry for all the mistakes and misunderstandings. I hope you are well and that your life has been a happy one.
Alright enough of my meandering and soul searching which I doubt most people will care about and on to more talk about the reunion and my convoluted path in getting there.
So, I've missed every reunion so far since the class of 1978 left the hallowed halls of Northeast High for a number of reasons that include a long stint overseas, no longer living in South Florida and having not kept up with any of the people I know from those times. Entirely my fault once again. I have been keeping track however through a service online known as Classmates.com and included my name in the class just in case anyone who might have remembered me wanted to find out what kind of nonsense I've been up to.
I saw a notice while surfing and checking email that a Carol Hosking had put out a call for others from the class of 1978 to meet on June 13th at 5PM at the Mai Kai for drinks. I talked it over with the boss (my wife Tracey) and knowing that it wouldn't cost a fortune to attend, decided to RSVP Carol. She responded with a nice message saying that she was looking forward to seeing me and the others who also responded. There were roughly seven people on the Classmates RSVP list and I wasn't expecting much of a crowd, but it would still be fun.
I made my plane reservations and decided to also get a rental car though I probably didn't need it. I was going to be staying with my brother Larry (also a MyMac.com writer extraordinaire!) and certainly could have gotten him to ferry me around, but with the price of gas and his long regular work commute, it just didn't seem fair. Plus I wanted to rent a Dodge Charger and see how well it held up over a long weekend.
The flight itself was uneventful other than the usual late afternoon thunderstorms which meant the pilot had to loop out over the Atlantic and bounce us down onto the runway at breakneck speeds. Again, typical Fort Lauderdale type of flight.
After deplaning and grabbing my luggage, I headed over to the rent-a-car company who didn't have any Dodge Chargers like in their brochure and instead offered me the oh so luxurious Ford Taurus instead. I opted to spend a little more and wound up with a Chrysler 300 (very nice car).
One of my goals for that Thursday evening was to drive from the Lauderdale airport to my brother's home in Palm Beach in time to join Tim, David, Sam, and Lee for the weekly MyMac.com podcast of which I'm also a regular. Made it in roughly a little more than an hour, but technical difficulties on our end meant that Larry and I couldn't join up. Bummer. Wasn't a total loss though as Larry and went out to a local eatery and did the dinner thing while swapping bad jokes and confusing our waitress. I left a nice tip to make up for it.
Friday there was plenty of time to visit old haunts and to see how much the area had changed over the last few years since I had been to South Florida. Naturally, Florida always seems to be in a state of flux with old places being demolished to make way for whatever trendy nonsense is in this week that won't manage to get built until AFTER the trend is over.
All too soon it was time to head back to Larry's to get cleaned up and ready for the reunion. I threw on some slacks (and I wish now I had stayed in shorts) and a nice Hawaiian print shirt and it was off to the Mai Kai. I should probably mention something about the Mai Kai. If you've never been to Fort Lauderdale and have plans to go there soon, you should take some time to visit. The girls are pretty and wear next to nothing and the drinks are not too watered down as you might expect from a touristy place like this. Even though I lived for almost 20 years within four blocks of the place, this was actually the first time I had ever been there and I was pleasantly surprised. I will go again as time permits and I think all te people involved with the reunion would say nice things about how accommodating the management was with our event.
Once we started arriving, I realized quickly that there were going to be a heck of a lot more than the seven people I assumed were going to show up via Classmates. As it turns out, the evening's festivities actually began some number of months ago at the Northeast High Band reunion. Some of the people there though it would be nice to meet on a particular day and have some drinks. Carol was just arranging the Classmates side of things. Before the night was over I believe that close to 50 people were there! Great turnout and I did see some people that I knew from my class and others who remembered me. We sat, we walked, we danced, we had drinks, and sang a bunch of songs from the seventies that were being played live by a guy, his computer, an organ, and steel drums. Everyone really seemed to have a good time. All too soon it was time to go. Larry and I said our goodbyes, and drove back out to Palm Beach.
The next day we drove around some more, met with old neighbors, and then had dinner with my Sister-in-law and her husband. And now I'm on my way home. It was difficult leaving Florida this time around. I guess having grown up there, you're willing to overlook some of the flaws and blemishes of the old girl and just take her for what she is.
I'd like to thank the whole reunion crew for putting together a fabulous time and I hope I get the chance to meet up with them again. Naturally you can click THIS LINK to see them all. So to Carol, Anita, Juan, and the rest of the gang, thanks for a job well done and please let me know about future events as well.