May 20, 2010
“The old dreams were good dreams. They didn't work out, but I'm glad I had them." --Robert Kincaid (Clint Eastwood) in The Bridges of Madison County, 1995.
It is that time of year for class reunion anxiety, and I am starting to get a bad case of the jitters and heebee-jeebies.
What if I say something stupid at our upcoming class reunion.
I worry about this because I was visiting with a classmate about our imminent reunion recently, and I couldn't remember the answers to her questions.
Surely, old classmates won't think me too dimwitted if I can't remember exact details from our high school days. My recollections are more like fuzzy dreams, but good ones.
I do take comfort, however, in remembering what Ralph Waldo Emerson once said , "It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."
I emailed some old friends hoping they would remember the details I couldn't. I might need to know this in casual conversation at the reunion, I thought.
I was about to get stupid.
I wrote Robert: "I am trying to remember some things from our high school days. Just wondering, did I go to prom with you our junior year? My memory is not so good anymore."
"No, that would be Danny," he replied. "We never dated in high school, once in college."
"Oh," I answered sheepishly.
So, I asked, "Who did you take to prom then, to which he replied, "I don't remember."
I emailed Janet.
"Robert doesn't know who he took to prom our junior year. Do you remember?
"No," she wrote back with finality. "Why is this important?"
I called Beverly.
"No, I don't remember either, but I think you used to go with Steve to all the dances."
"I remember now, she said, "You two pretended to be a couple so Mr. Propes, our principal, would not charge you the rate for singles which was higher than for couples. You guys had a scam going. As soon as you were inside the door, you went your separate ways. It was a stroke of genius, actually. Don't you remember that?"
"If you say so," I replied, "But one more question. Did I go to Homecoming with Harvey once? I think I did. Paula says I did." I could hear Beverly sigh over the phone and tell me that it was probably better I didn't remember.
Now, my curiosity was killing me, so there was nothing to do but email Harvey.
"This is going to sound like a silly question, but did I go to Homecoming with you back in high school?"
"Yes, we dated once," he said matter of factly. "My Mom drove us because neither of us were 16 yet, and I got you a beautiful corsage which you hated. You pouted; you wanted a Homecoming mum."
"Oh," I said, "So, who did you take to prom." Harvey said he didn't remember.
I called my sister Pat.
"Well, let's see," she began with the brutal honesty only a sibling can provide.
"You had a date with Harvey for Homecoming, but his mother went along. You went with Steve, who was three years younger than you, to everything else but not really because you only did that to get in cheaper at the door. You went with your friend Danny to prom your junior year, and your senior year you went with a group of girls, but you really wanted to go with Ronnie. He didn't ask you."
I think I am going to stick with the old blurry dreams, the good ones. They didn't work out, but like Robert Kincaid, I'm glad I had them, too.
