My mom’s side of the family has ballooned through the years, making it harder and harder to get everyone under the same roof for Thanksgiving like we used to do. But we still do try to get as many members together as we can every five years or so, assembling at a family favorite resort called Ridin-Hy. And 2005 is one such year for us to gather.

Though there were a few heads missing — my sister among them, sadly — we had a pretty good turnout. What made this already special gathering all the more special was the added foot of snow that upstate New York got on Thanksgiving day, turning the already peaceful and picturesque surroundings look that much better. Just icing on the cake in my opinion.

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I spent most of my Saturday on the road coming back from DC after catching a Galactic concert. Most of my Saturday night was spent at little spot called La Caverna, celebrating three birthdays at once. Of course, I only knew one of those people, but that was enough to get me on the guest list.

Good thing too. When I got to the front door to rather surly looking chaps were turning a group away. One of them looks truly perturbed when he found out that my name was in fact on that list. That alone made my attendance worth-while, seeing as how I’m not acustomed to dealing witht he whole velvete rope routine — more of a dingy corner bar type myself.

Anyway, the place was decked out like an cavern and had hookas all around. The DJ threw down some classic early 90′s fare and some rugs were cut in the process. All in all a good time out.

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Life is filled with milestones, and another one of those passed for me on Saturday. Societal ritual dictated that after 10 years members of the Pt. Pleasant Boro High School class of 1995 were to assemble for a reunion. For about nine and a half of those years, if you had asked me if I would be attending this little soiree I would have had to say no. But time and thoughts change, so I found myself strolling into the Lobster Shanty, not quite sure what to expect.

In the weeks and days leading up to it, I was calm about the whole thing. Just keeping tabs on everything else in your life helps to preoccupy the mind and prevents it from dwelling on what you can’t foresee and can’t control — the kind of thing that quiet little Andrew used to do back in his high school days. That was a lifetime ago, though I’m only now really coming to terms with that.

There was a touch of nervousness at first, but doc prescribed himself two rum and cokes and the shakes went away, leaving a steady hand and a calmer mind for engaging in the social experiment. I’ll be honest: more than once I had to ask “who was that I just had a conversation with?”. I was so praying for name tags to avoid just this situation. Then slowly but surely, certain faces snapped into place with name attached. Some I had run into in the years between graduation and reunion, in many manor of ways. Talk of kids and careers dominated, as was expected. I was happy to say that I actually liked what I did for a living. I know not everyone was in as stable a situation — just months ago, I wasn’t either. For the most part I’d say it was like stepping into a more matured version of my past.

What amazed me most from this whole experience is that it has had something of a softening effect on my memories of those high school days. A good many people have it rough through those years, though I claimed for ages that mine was much worse that others. I’m starting to see now that it’s mainly because I was only focusing on the bad points — which seemed much more focused and vivid — and not remembering all those many good faces and experiences that painted memory with much broader strokes. Having seen the character that time has etched into my classmates forces me to reevaluate my memories: how much of it was just the result of a hypersensitive teenage mind and how much of it was truth? Well, I’ve got nothing but time to mull through all that.

Afterwards, some of us made our way over to Jenkinson’s, which I found very ironic. I had never actually gone into the club until that night, only because I always joked that it would be like my high school reunion because of the number of classmates that frequented it. Now I can be more honest with myself and say it’s because I’m not big on cover bands. Besides, I always thought the Seaside Heights bar scene was better. But that was about half a lifetime ago. ^_^

Thank you for indulging my personal recollections. Enjoy the pics inside.

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