The "class of 69"-type reunions are a very curious thing to my eyes. I have seen the scene many times in different movies, and as they are not common in Spain, I can't help but amaze me at the situation.
Sure thing there is something cool about meeting people that you haven't seen for years, maybe decades. But I have the feeling that everybody leaves those reunions with a bitter feeling.
People is not anymore as we remember them, nor are we. Those we liked have become a nuisance. The lovely girl is now a fat, ugly woman. Probably the only satisfaction is to witness how the cool, popular guy of the classroom is now a loser. Then we can get some feeling of achievement like "well, my life hasn't been that bad after all".
I have lost contact with all of my schoolmates. I only keep the phone number of a couple of them, and we talk sometimes but meet rarely. We know where we are and that's fine. I sometimes have stumped onto schoolmates and I remember them pretty well -I'm good at remembering faces, even if they have changed-, and then I say to myself "should I tell him something?" just to reply, again to myself "Why? He was a complete a$$hole back then, so I really wouldn't have much to talk with him"
Schoolmates is not something you choose: you get them randomly, and then, friendships are born based on common interests, similar traits etc. When the school finishes, the common bond disappears, and unless there is another bond, the friendship usually fades away because you get new friends at your new place. The number of friends you can appropiately deal with is limited, at the end you have to pick the best ones.
Sometimes, when nostalgie struck me, I have searched for names in the phone directory, but never phoned. It's OK for me to know they are around and where do they live. I don't need a "class of '90" reunion to meet my schoolmates; I can always meet only those I would like to meet" But I rather get on with my life.
I had a very good mate, we even became "blood brothers -cut included-" when we were 16, and we too shared a girl. She was my first girlfriend, and he dated her when she left me. Technically speaking, she was not my girlfriend anymore, but it hurted me pretty badly. Still, I liked that guy, and I was an idealistic believing that friendship was more important than love.
I invited him to my wedding, and also another of my schoolmates. But later the relationship froze, and we didn't talk for a few years. A couple of years ago I located them and emailed them. They seemed happy to know from me, and we were about to make new plans to meet and talk about the good old times. But then I thought that after that we would not meet again, so it was pointless, and I just tell them it was good to know they were fine but it was better if we continued our paths. I know I will stumble upon them some day, and it will be a happy day, and we will have a coffee or a drink or a lunch, but only if it is a coincidence.
