What an Awesome Night!

4th September has come and gone so quickly! The night was a resounding success, and David, Justin and I could not have been any happier with the outcome (except we would have liked a bigger turnout). The final numbers for the Class of '85 Reunion came to 130 people! So it was still a good number, considering how many previous students we couldn't find.

The feedback has been fantastic, and the one thing that everyone said was..."It wasn't long enough!" Followed up at the end of the night..."we've gotta do it again!" It just went so quickly.

From my perspective as the key organiser, it was interesting to watch people's reactions and listen to their responses as they walked through the door. The stunned look on people's faces and some looks of trepidation were quietly amusing. Especially as they scanned the room and recognised particular people with the words..."OMG! Is that....?"

And one comment someone made as I ticked their name off was..."This is surreal!"

So at first there were alot of mixed emotions and a little bit of uncertainty, but within an hour the room was literally buzzing! So much so that when Justin got up to do his MC honours, well...poor Justin...you couldn't hear him from the din of excitement in the room. We did have 80's music playing in the background, but apparently, very few heard any music at all, or even noticed the slideshow of old school photos, flashing on the screen behind them...the buzz was so intense!

The atmosphere was just incredible. Everyone was smiling, laughing, reminiscing...and drinking, of course. There were people mixing and talking, who perhaps hadn't done so back in high school. Many old friendships were rekindled, and new ones formed.

I suspect too, that the night was also about forgiveness for some. And also about acceptance. When everyone realised that we've all been through stuff in our lives, and you can't get to this stage in your life without being scathed, just a little, you find that you have more in common than what you think you have. So, I think for many, the experience was cathartic. Alot of demons were put to rest and a sense of release ensued.

For me, the most standout thing that came of the night, was the fact that quite a few people, who said that initially they did feel trepidation before walking through the doors, quickly, changed their tune. As someone said..."I expected to come here tonight and sit and be a wallflower, but found exactly the opposite happen"...or something along those lines. Time and time again, this was said to me. They all felt that their fears were allayed and they were able to talk freely and be themselves without fear of rejection once they realised how accepting and welcoming everyone was.

What people were categorised during high school, i.e. nerdy, sporty, peculiar...etc, just wasn't even on the radar during the night. As I have suspected all along, as we get older, through our collective experiences, we find a commonality that brings us together and allows us to celebrate our own individual differences and uniqueness, that during high school some may have felt alienated by those differences, but now find they are the very things we can be proud of embracing and sharing.

So thank you to all those who came along. You are what made our 'Class of '85 Reunion' night such a special and successful one! Without your willingness to participate, we wouldn't had such a fantastic night!

And of course, thank you to all those who supported the reunion, but who could not make it for whatever reason that is. There have still been alot of friendships rekindled through this whole process, and for that reason alone, the journey has been worth the effort!

I'll leave you with a link to some photos of night. These photos are courtesy of Jacqueline Rose, who took some wonderful candid shots. Thank you again Jacqeline! I will try to get some more up here for those who aren't on facebook, but it won't be for a couple of weeks, as I'm going away. So I'll post some more upon my return, so just check back here in a few weeks for more photos.

Here's the link...enjoy! :)

Class of '85 Reunion photos