LEFFLER: Where did the last 20 years go?

Opinion

Related Photos

Scott Leffler

July 31, 2012

LEFFLER: Where did the last 20 years go?

By Scott Leffler The Tonawanda News The Tonawanda News Tue Jul 31, 2012, 11:10 AM EDT

This past weekend, I met a group of complete strangers at a bar in Wheatfield to celebrate our 20-year high school reunion.

OK, so not all of them were complete strangers. A few I’ve kept up with over the years — or more specifically, a few I’ve   stalked on Facebook — but the majority of them are people that I’ve said very little to since we all walked across the stage   at Artpark some 20 years ago.

Some I don’t remember at all. I really wanted to ask them, “are you sure you went to Niagara-Wheatfield?” I’m sure that’s   more a testament to my poor memory than anything else. Oddly, they remembered me. It’s not so much that I was shocked that   they remembered me, as much as I was shocked that they knew who I was in the first place. You see, I wasn’t really in the   cool-kids crowd in high school.

Hard to believe, huh?

I learned a lot about myself during the reunion. For one thing, I’ve apparently always been the pain in the posterior that   I am today. I don’t always remember being so obstinate. I thought that was something I picked up while working in radio. Or   maybe in college. I thought I was quiet and mousy in high school.

“You were the guy that sat in the front seat in law class and gave the teacher a hard time,” one of my fellow class members   said Friday night. In other words, not only did I not remember some of my classmates, I didn’t remember myself.

There was a 10-year reunion. I skipped it. I think a lot of people skipped it. I have a feeling 10 years isn’t a long enough   absence from high school to miss it.

We had a 17-year reunion. It was at a bar in Niagara Falls. I remember it being a little more superficial than the 20-year   one. And I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much, but it did reconnect me with a couple classmates in particular who I’ve since stayed   in touch with a little more closely than I had before.

This time around, I reconnected with a couple more classmates whom I hope to stay in touch with in a similar manner as to   how I’ve stayed in touch with those I talked with at the last go-round.

We talked about life, liberty and the pursuit. Nothing seemed as though it was out of bounds. From jobs to exes to politics   to (for at least one classmate) time spent in jail.

Everyone had such a great time, there’s already talk of doing a 21-year reunion. This, of course, won’t happen, but it’s cool   to think that people had such a good time.

Scott Leffler is a decent guy … no matter what his schoolmates may tell you. Follow him on Twitter @scottleffler.

Text Only

Opinion

ADAMCZYK: She wished she could live in a place like this The Kenmore Village Improvement Society, it with the intentionally Victorian and ironic name, threw itself a birthday party last weekend under a big tent in Mang Park.
May 24, 2013
KEPPELER: Why do we do this to ourselves? I just spent the day tottering around the newsroom in high heels. Those are words I never thought I'd be thinking. But with the wedding of my only sibling approaching and a new dress in my closet, I had decided to do my best to look presentable, if not fashionable.
May 23, 2013 1 Photo
DUVALL: Obama lurching between lame crises When a government scandal breaks and it's determined the president himself had no knowledge it was happening, they're judged not for not knowing but for how they react once they do. By that measuring stick, Obama has failed.
May 22, 2013 1 Photo
Fitzgerald's 'Gatsby' a ceaseless classic
May 19, 2013 1 Photo
OUR VIEW: Local school budgets deserve passage In each of the three districts encompassing the Tonawandas, we urge voters to give the plans a stamp of approval.
May 19, 2013
TUCKER: Small stores win for customer service Stops at a large local hardware store and a "big box" store found no customer service people to ask, much less help in my quest.
May 18, 2013 1 Photo
ADAMCZYK: The rewards of the modern age Ever been overwhelmed? Of course you have. Not all of us have the luxury of pondering the nature of time, but that's what I was up to the other day when I should have been doing something else.
May 17, 2013
OUR VIEW: Justice Dept. snooping an affront to free press Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
May 16, 2013
Boldly going, yet again
May 16, 2013 1 Photo
DUVALL: Passing on 'pass the salt' Though I agree obesity is a serious problem in America, I share most Americans' indignation when a politician thinks its his job to tell me what to eat and drink.
May 15, 2013 1 Photo
More Opinion Headlines

Opinion

Search Results

Related Photos

LEFFLER: Where did the last 20 years go?

Site Map

Contact Us