20 Year Reunion....where the hell did all those years go?

I recently received word that next year is my high school class reunion. From what people are telling me it has been 20 years since we all walked the walk, accepted our diploma, and embarked on life after high school. In taking a few moments to reflect, a lot has happened in the last 20 years since that day and more importantly I am somewhat alarmed at how fast the years have passed. I really don't feel as old as I am. It doesn't seem that long ago that I had hair down to the middle of my back, my normal dress code was torn up jeans and a t-shirt,and the songs on the radio had nothing to do with g-thangs, gin and juice, and bustin a cap. A simpler time indeed.

I am lucky enough that the people I cared about most in high school I still talk to today as they are my best friends. They are the people that have been there for me through thick and thin, good times and bad. Long periods of time can transpire between our gatherings, however the minute we hook back up it is like we haven't skipped a beat. We start quoting Monty Python, and laughing at our own ingenuity in actually remembering the lines word for word. Originally I had no interest in going as I expect that the old cliques will reform, the same prejudices will surface based on what "status" you held back then even though it has been 20 years. I don't have the faith in the people of my graduating class to move past that and actually act as human beings. Talking to one of my buddies this week, he brought up a good point. Going to the reunion may be fun purely from a people watching perspective, to sit back and watch these social dynamics develop during the festivities could indeed be interesting. During our 10 year reunion, there was all kind of drama. I would liken it to a soap opera. There were accusations of adultery, wine thrown in peoples faces, and threats of violence. Good times man...good times, I think I left early. The only good thing to come out of the 10 year that I am aware of was the fact that a friend of mine met the gal that he would eventually marry. They recently welcomed a little boy to their family (congrats Dave and Kim!!!!).

Anyway, I will most likely go....if my friends decide to show up. Damn...20 years...where did the time go.

For all you trivia buffs, here is the year 1988 at a glance...

Major Events of 1988

Soviets pull out of Afghanistan
Ten day siege of Golden Temple
Longest undersea tunnel opens
Iranian passenger jet shot down by the US
Gorbachev announces unilateral troop cuts

Sports
NBA: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Detroit Pistons Series: 4-3
NCAA Football: Notre Dame Record: 12-0-0
Heisman Trophy: Barry Sanders, Oklahoma state, RB points: 1,878
Stanley Cup: Edmonton Oilers vs. Boston Bruins Series: 4-0
Super Bowl XXII: Washington Red Skins vs. Denver Broncos Score: 42-10
US Open Golf: Curtis Strange Score: 278* Course: The Country Club Location: Brookline, MA (*Playoff with Nick Faldo)
World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Oakland A's Series: 4-1

Popular Music
1."So Emotional" ... Whitney Houston
2."Got My Mind Set on You" ... George Harrison
3."The Way You Make Me Feel" ... Michael Jackson
4."Need You Tonight" ... INXS
5."Could've Been" ... Tiffany
6."Season Change" ... Expose
7."Father Figure" ... George Michael
8."Never Gonna Give You Up" ... Rick Astley
9."Man In the Mirror" ... Michael Jackson
10."Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car" ... Billy Ocean

Popular Movies
1. Beetlejuice
2. Big
3. Bull Durham
4. Cocktail
5. Colors
6. Coming to America
7. Crocodile Dundee II
8. Die Hard
9. A Fish Called Wanda
10. Good Morning, Vietnam

Most Popular Books
Fiction
1. "The Tommyknockers" by Stephen King
2. "Patriot Games" by Tom Clancy
3. "Kaleidoscope" by Danielle Steele
4. "Misery" by Stephen King
5. "Leaving Home" by Garrison Keillor

Nonfiction
1. "Time Flies" by Bill Cosby
2. "Spy Catcher" by Peter Wright
3. "Family: The Ties That Bind" and "Gag" by Erma Bombeck
4. "Veil: Secret Wars of the CIA " by Bob Woodward
5. "A Day in the Life of America" by Rick Smolan

Most Popular Television Shows
1. The Cosby Show (NBC)
2. A Different World (NBC)
3. Cheers (NBC)
4. The Golden Girls (NBC)
5. Growing Pains (ABC)
6. Who's the Boss? (ABC)
7. Night Court (NBC)
8. 60 Minutes (CBS)
9. Murder, She Wrote (CBS)
10. Alf (NBC)

Nobel Prizes
Chemistry
The prize was awarded jointly to: DEISENHOFER, JOHANN, Federal Republic of Germany, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, TX, U.S.A., b. 1943; HUBER, ROBERT, Federal Republic of Germany, Max-Planck-Institut fÙr Biochemie, Martinsried, b. 1937; and MICHEL, HARTMUT, Federal Republic of Germany, Max-Planck-Institut fÙr Biophysik, Frankfurt/Main, b. 1948: "for the determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction centre"

Literature
MAHFOUZ, NAGUIB, Egypt, b. 1911: "who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind"

Peace
THE UNITED NATIONS PEACE-KEEPING FORCES New York, NY, U.S.A.

Physiology or Medicine
The prize was awarded jointly to: BLACK, Sir JAMES W., Great Britain, King's College Hospital Medical School, University of London, London, Great Britain, b. 1924; ELION, GERTRUDE B., U.S.A., Wellcome Research Laboratories, Research Triangle Park, NC, b. 1918, d. 1999; and HITCHINGS, GEORGE H., U.S.A., Wellcome Research Laboratories, Research Triangle Park, NC, b. 1905, d. 1998: "for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment"

Physics
The prize was awarded jointly to: LEDERMAN, LEON M., U.S.A., Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL, b. 1922; SCHWARTZ, MELVIN, U.S.A., Digital Pathways, Inc., Mountain View, CA, b. 1932; and STEINBERGER, JACK, U.S.A., CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, b. 1921 (in Bad Kissingen, FRG): "for the neutrino beam method and the demonstration of the doublet structure of the leptons through the discovery of the muon neutrino."

Academy Awards
Best Picture: "Rain Man"
Best Director: Barry Levinson ... "Rain Man"
Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman ... "Rain Man"
Best Actress: Jodie Foster ... "The Accused"

Grammy Awards
Record of the Year: "Don't Worry, Be Happy" ... Bobby McFerrin
Best Song: "Don't Worry, Be Happy" ... Bobby McFerrin
Best Album: "Faith" ... George Michael
Male Vocalist: Bobby McFerrin ... "Don't Worry, Be Happy"
Female Vocalist: Tracy Chapman ... "Fast Car"

Tony Awards
Best Play: "M. Butterfly" ... David Henry Hwang
Best Musical: "The Phantom of the Opera"
Best Actor in a play: Ron Silver ... "Speed the Plow"
Best Actress in a play: Joan Allen ... "Burn This"
Best Actor in a musical: Michael Crawford ... "Phantom of the Opera"
Best Actress in a musical: Joanna Gleason ... "Into the Woods"