Just Like It Was Yesterday...

Like, what a totally out-there blast from the past. Like. Totally.

Tonight was our daughter's freshman high school orientation. After listening to the typical do-well-in-school-yada-yada-do-your-homework-yada-yada-these-will-be-the-best-years-of-your-life-yada-yada-yada the students were set free to explore the school they will inhabit for the next four years. And off they went.

Now I must preface this by saying I did not move far from my childhood hometown. In fact, I didn't move at all. My children are attending my alma mater. My husband, on the other hand, lived elsewhere and attended high school elsewhere, so this was not the same experience for him as it was for me. First things first...

We traversed the hallway to the academic wing and there standing against the "cool people wall" was a dear friend looking just as beautiful as she did standing there 24 years ago. After a stop-and-lean-and-chat my husband realized this was going to be a long evening...so he started walking. Not one to horde all my fabulous memories, I caught up and proceeded to regale him with tales from my youth.

"See this here? This was MY locker! And this one here was my locker-buddy, Gary's!" (Side note: Hey Gary! The lockers look a lot smaller than I remember.) Suffice it to say, he was not as enthused as I was. I, on the other hand, can still recall the Psychedelic Furs, Billy Idol, and David Bowie "Serious Moonlight" tour photos adorning the entire inside. Oh, and Mr. Bowie, when you read this (and you will read this) I still think you're the bomb and would really like you to consider a "Serious Moonlight Anniversary Tour." I'm just sayin'...that two different eye-color thing you've got goin' on is hot.

"Here is where my German classes were with Mr. Knudsen. He wore the waistline of his pants up around his armpits." 

"This was crazy Jerry's room who taught Social Studies across all grades so I got stuck with him for three years. He made us sit in a horseshoe, wore the same plaid pants nearly every day, picked his nose, and started every class with, "Let's get together." The day  Scott B. replied, "In any kind of weather..." I thought I would pee my pants." By this time I was cracking myself up while dear husband thought he should be looking into papers to have me committed.

"Oh look! This is the art-room where I practically lived under the guidance of Ms. Teale! I was going to move to the city and become a commercial artist!" This drew a look of feigned interest. Incidentally, this bit of trivia he already knew and is the honest-to-goodness-truth. In fact, my high school prophecy was my amazing friend, Mark, our other amazing friend, Kelli, and I were gonna be found 25 years later operating our pornographic art studio in NYC. (Seriously, they actually said the word "pornographic" at our Senior banquet. My parents must have been so proud.) Alas, Mark is the only one of us living the art studio dream, but when I win my Pulitzer and become famous this may show up in Trivial Pursuit, so there is a pink wedge piece for you.

Moving on, I shared the study hall room where people needing to use the bathroom across the hall would hafta go into study hall and ask the teacher for the key because they kept the bathroom doors locked. Needless to say, I would hold it seven hours before suffering THAT humiliation.

One row down from this room was "the boyfriend's" locker, which I blurted out before I even meant to. Dear husband just shook his head and laughing said, "Yup...smooch, smooch, smooch." Moving on...

It was great walking the old halls again and while many things have changed, it is surprising what stays the same. High School was indeed a good time and I hope it is everything my daughter dreams it will be. Minus the smooch, smooch, smooch.

Totally.

The serious moonlight...