» A Voice From The Past Yellow Jeep Blonde: What do you do AFTER the kids grow up. . .

I started an MSN Spaces blog back in Feb. 2006 with a little coaxing from my boss who had one. I was leary and suspicious at first about the whole blogging thing. In my mind, I was afraid it was just another version of Match.com which I wanted no part of, but then I really started getting into it . . . feeling a little safer about the blogworld. Then when Spaces started dorking around with their site (in the name of making improvements), DeWitte got aggravated and switched his blog to Vox and started needling me to switch as well. I was hesitant because I’d made such good friends with a bunch of folks on Spaces, so I started a mimic blog on Vox to where I would just post the same post to both sites. I didn’t follow through with that as well as I’d planned. I basically used my Vox blog to keep up with DeWitte (boss) and his wife Jamie’s blogs. (They are a fabulous couple and very funny!)

Anyway, I haven’t posted anything on Vox for several months. I’ve been too busy working on this wonderful site. But it was still out there. . . just sitting dormant. . . apparently waiting for a voice from my past. I’d posted this story last March:

30th Year Class Reunion

Now if THAT doesn’t make you feel old, then I don’t know what does.Yeah - I just received an invitation to my 30th year class reunion. Stunning how long 30 years really is when you think about it. I broke out into a sweat, then I broke out my yearbook and started browsing at all the young, fresh, hopeful faces. That’s when it hit me - how old I really am. Not because of the glaring wrinkles on what used be such smooth white skin, but because my memory is failing me. I barely remember a handful of these people. Sure I remember the names (sorta) and the faces are vaaaaguely familiar, but what classes we had together and when totally eludes me. I have no idea. My brain has apparently discarded all of this information and has moved on. It’s like I don’t even include high school in my description of myself. I don’t think about it at all. And it’s not because I have horrific memories or anything either.

In high school, I was a middle of the road kind of girl, a little shy, a little nerdy (although I didn’t realize it at the time). I thought I blended with all the cliques pretty well without ever becoming a part of one in particular. I had friends of all shapes, sizes, colors, and classes. That’s kinda how I’ve always rolled. (That includes politics and religion as well) I got along with everybody pretty well. At least the ones that I cared about getting along with. There were some I shyed away from because I just knew I wouldn’t like them very much. Then there were the “bad” kids. I stayed away from trouble too being the good girl I was. I had a handful of REALLY close friends.Sadly, we lost one of them a year after high school. Another was in a horrible car accident and was left permanently brain damaged. The rest moved away to college. I’ve stayed in touch with these guys over the years, but not with any real regularity. Life just happens and you move on. And boy has it moved on. See what can happen in 30 years!! Frightening.

17 years old

I thought those glasses were cool and in style.

47th birthday

Notice the crevices in the face.

College, marriage, children, living in a foreign country, brief celebrity as a contestant on The Price Is Right, traveling, divorce, new business ventures, single-motherhood, soccer games, PTA, kid’s graduating themselves, changes in careers, weight loss, weight gain, the list goes on. [On the whole weight thing, I believe I’ve come full circle. I was chubby in high school, then lost a ton of weight, kept that off until menopause hit me - now I’m back to my chubby weight. I think less still than high school, but still a little fluffy nonetheless.]

But I DO remember this very moment. My friends. Aren’t they precious? We were all there picking up our caps and gowns. We were so happy to be graduating.

High School was ‘Over and Out’.

Jimmy, Marty and Dennis.

Edwin is missing for some reason.

I didn’t make it to my 10 year reunion. I remember wanting to go, but then the choice came down to whether I wanted a computer or the trip home. (This was 1988 and I opted for the computer) I think it was my ex’s way of getting out of going. . . so he offered me something more tangible knowing that my practical side would win out. But I DID really want to go. I was living in San Diego at the time and loving life. I’d lost about 40 or 50 pounds since high school. I’d traveled around the world. Lived in Japan for a couple of years. Had two gorgeous little boys. And I’d won a car on The Price Is Right. I thought I had tons to share (and show off). I was downright giddy. But I didn’t go.

Then the 20 year reunion came around and I was in my late 30’s. My 30’s were not a good time for me. I was struggling after my divorce and trying to find my way and trying to raise my two boys the best I could and I was a real mess. I don’t think I really knew it at the time, but looking back. . . . I wasn’t in a good place. Not within myself. I was so focused on making sure the kids were good that it took me several years to get a grip on my life and figure out who I really was after my marriage fell to pieces. Still again - I didn’t go.

Now 30 years have gone by since graduation and a whole lifetime has passed. I’ve been through so many changes. . . AND the change. (heehee) And now I’m supposed to write some little diddy about me, my life since graduation, a little summary of sorts - and I have no idea where to start. Can I simply say that I’ve finally grown up? Then how would I explain my yellow Jeep? That’s not grown up. That’s somebody who still thinks they’re a kid. What do I say that I’ve accomplished? I’m not rich and successful. I’m lower middle-class and a workaholic trying to reach middle-middle-class. THAT’S something to be proud of? I can say that I’ve raised two wonderful young men, but then so did most of my classmates, I’m sure. Would saying that I’m really happy with who I am now after all these years suffice? That seems a little boring. As much as I can talk, I’m at a loss to come up with five lines to describe who and what I am now, where I’ve been and what I’ve done. I’ve got “Reunion Diddy Block”. Help me!!

Well as it turns out, I didn’t go to the 30th either. Gas prices, my tenuous employment status and the fact that my son was moving out of my house that very same weekend too. However, I got an email yesterday from my Vox blog saying “Wow! You still look great!” Then another that said, “four barrell, nerd, remack, tenth street, flying roaches, ramada inn, mjc, eleventh grade english class, who am I?” Holy crap!! There was only ONE person I knew who could string all those bizarre words together in one sentence. . . . and make complete sense. (that’s a whole post of its own right there) It was Marty!! The one in the middle in this picture!

My buddy, my pal, my dear dear friend from so long ago. I haven’t seen him since Dec 29, 1983. How’s that for a memory?

I emailed him back and simply said, “OMG! Marty? Is that YOU?” And it is!!!! I’ve found my old friend, or well, he found me. Completely by accident as it turns out. He was googling another friend of ours, Mark Farrior, who I had mentioned in another post, and he was directed to my dormant Vox blog. How coincidental is that? How fun is that? I love Google!

So what do you think my chances are that Mark Farrior would google himself and find me too?