my moms high school reunion!

Today was my Mom ,and her friend Gina’s, Californis Highschool Reunion class of 1970! Crazy huh? Haha. My sister, my mom and I, left from my sisters house to meet Gina on the street where they both grew up as children. I had never seen where my mother grew up before so it was awesome visiting her street. I could picture what it was like in my head during the 50’s, all the houses being really cute, the girls wearing dresses and ribbons in their hair. Gina and my mom lived two houses away from one another and used to play in my mothers front yard and on the front steps all the time! My mom told me that there used to be an orange tree in their front yard, but now it was gone, and the house was so much better looking than it is now.  

From there we went to her actual highschool! It reminded me a lot of Vashon’s High School with all of the buildings being so separate and the campus having large courtyards with grass. My mom showed us where they used to hang out during break time.

From there we went to lunch at a charming little restaurant called the California Grill! Inside there were very large fish tanks with puffer fish, regal tangs, parrot fish, and even a small moray eel!

I was laughing so hard because when I lightly dragged my finger along the glass the Regal Tang (which is the same kind of fish that Dora was in Finding Nemo) started following it and biting the glass where it was. It looked so fascinted! My sister and I agreed that the fish’s expression reminded us of "BUBBLES! bubblesbubbles bubbles!" Hahahahahaha. The parrot fish ignored my finger as if to say "Um yeah…I am not like stupid over here."

The cobb salad with salmon that I got was delicious, but I wish that I had split it or got a half size because it was huuuge! I felt bad wasting so much good food! That’s the terrible thing about salads. You can never box them up because later the lettuce wilts and the veggies get slimy.

*sigh*

So annny whoizzle. After we ate we headed to the Raddison hotel to check in and get ready for the reunion, which was being held in one of the Raddissons ballrooms downstairs. 

As soon as we entered the room I did what I always do, head to the bathroom and grab all the goodies! I don’t like letting anything to waste so I take as many things from hotels that they have to offer in order to save money lol. I noticed that in the bathroom they had small water glasses…I asked my sister "Do you think they would notice if these were missing?" She said "Are they glass or plastic?" I said "Um…glass."

She replied "Well then yes, I think they would, and they would know exactly who stayed in here so then they would bill us. You better not."

Oh wells. Haha.

By the way Rachel, if you are reading this, you need to write me a response entry in our H&R blog! 😛

7:00pm Gina met us in the ballroom and it was packed! I was so surprised at how many people showed up! My mom was excited because there were a couple girls there that she hasn’t seen since back then whom she used to hang out with and she happened to have a photo of both of them, herself, and Gina all together! As soon as we entered both of those girls (I think their names were Evelynne and Julie) ran up to her and hugged her. The first thing I thought was "WOW! They are still so skinny! Just like in the photo!" Throughout the night actually I noticed that. I have noticed over the years already that people I knew who used to be skinny have gotten a lot bigger, but everyone in my moms high school class that was there, looked exactly the same size as they used to be! But of course, you could tell who let themselves go and who kept up their appearance. It was cute to see how many of them got married or started dating from seeing being reunited at their last high school reunion! So cute! It was interesting to see the difference between Gina and my mom as well. Gina didn’t really have the nerve to approach people. She told us that her highschool experience was really bad. The whole time she seemed very reserved and shy. My mom however, being the social butterfly that she was in high school and still is, was flitting around from group to group talking and laughing and catching up. I could just see her as that senior girl doing that. Having so many aquaintances. She was well known and very popular, but never got close with anyone besides Gina whom she hung out with outside of school.

My sister and I were the only children brought along to the reunion. I was sort of surprised. Actually I did see one woman who was in her late 20’s or maybe early 30’s who was probably someone’s daughter, but yeah that was it! I felt proud to show off my mom to everyone. My mom and Gina were actually the best looking and best dressed people there! Everyone was telling my mom that she looked like a woman from Mad Men or a stepford wife! She was so adorable in  her colorful flowery dress that gathered at the waist and poofed out. Gina looked classy and elegant in an Audrey Hepburn style dress that was a mauve/brick color, with a lovely little black swear to go over it and a gold neclace. She too is just as long legged and tiny as she was back then! She could probably still fit in her highschool clothes!

Anyway, it was fascinating to me to observe everyone there. How they changed in looks, and their behavior. Gina told us that so many girls who never gave her the time of day were approaching her all friendly. She didn’t seem to care for that, but I don’t understand why she couldn’t just let it go! Nothing matters after highschool ends and I am sure that by this time, they had all gone through so much shit it truly didn’t matter. Oh well, it must have deeply affected her. I guess it just made me feel sad that she couldn’t enjoy the reunion.

She really enjoyed her time with us though, which is what really mattered and it was the same for us with her! 🙂

I’d like to get to know Gina better. Since she lives so close now, I hope to get together more often.