The Reunion Project: The First Step (4/27)
By Scott Ryan
Every so often, I find myself taking on some sort of project. It can be anything: work, coaching kids, cleaning out the garage (okay not that one). But being the curious type, I decided to go on a scavenger hunt. I'm trying to track down all my high school classmates for a milestone reunion next year. Think of it as a jigsaw puzzle with about 400 pieces to it, with the pieces spread out across the U.S. and the world.
I'm sure there are some people (read: almost all) who couldn't be bothered with a challenge like this. Most probably hated high school, but I'm willing to bet that many are curious to learn where so-and-so lives, who got married, who looks nothing like their senior photo, who just had a baby (or grand-baby), and who's famous.
I can't take any credit for finding classmates for our first two gatherings. Actually, I can't even remember how they found me. I had moved several times and the "technology" to find people for our first reunion mainly consisted of phone books and snail mail. Despite many classmates still living in town, there were still a lot who had dropped off the reunion radar.
For our second big reunion, the Internet came into play. On social networking websites, people starting making pages devoted to everything: Food, TV shows, body parts, and even high school reunions. Despite that effort, a lot of people were still out of reach. We all had to deal with classes, students, and teachers we didn't like, and we went through all of the same rites of passage--good and bad--so we're more-or-less entitled.
But where are the rest of my classmates? Maybe they're hoping that someone will find them. Maybe they didn't like me. Maybe they won't remember me. Regardless of the reason, I'm on a mission to find them. It'll be a long journey, but it's one I'm anxious to take.
*About this blog: Scott is a 1988 graduate of Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Va. and is blogging about his experience ahead of his 25th high school reunion in 2013. You can contact Scott at 248-945-9950 or via email at sryan@cbs.com. Please put "The Reunion Project" in the subject line.
