A Reunion Run Through...

Practicing for the Reunion

No. 35 on my list is Go to My 40th High School Reunion.

For my next list maybe it will be go to my 70th high school reunion!
(I have one great champion who says I need to do a 90 x 90 once I'm done with 60 x 60. )

Yesterday I drove my mom and dad to her 73rd high school reunion. She was graduated from JH Reagan High School, Houston Texas in 1941. Amazingly there were 725 kids in her graduating class. That is a huge number even by today's standards. At the time it was the largest graduating class in Texas. 

Reagan was established in 1927 as an all-white high school. Wait! You could do that?? 

Ah! Here's an explanation.  It was named after John H. Reagan (not Ronald Reagan) who was the Postmaster General and then the Secretary of the Treasury of the Confederate States. After the Confederacy fell, he became a U.S. Senator from Texas. He died in 1905 and then had a high school named after him 22 years later. 

The reunion was held at The Golden Corral on the Northwest Freeway and there were 9 attendees (7 graduates and two spouses) plus 5 drivers. Everyone in the graduating group is aged 90 or above...except for the two youngsters who are just turning 90 this next month.  This group meets every month but not everyone shows up every time. Apparently more than a few just come once or twice a year. The Christmas reunion seems to be the big one. 

Stella, Richard, Jean, Annabelle (?), Fred, Roy,  Ilene, Margaret

Roy is the interloper- he didn't graduate with these guys.

In the next room over (still at the Golden Corral) was the Lamar H.S. Men's Club which had men from the 1940/41/42 graduating years. ( The wives are only allowed to come at Christmas.)  This group had an even bigger turn out-maybe 20 to 25 men. They also meet monthly. There was a bit of visiting back and forth between the groups...some of these  people had known each other since grade school.   Lamar High School was opened in 1937and was my high school's biggest rival.

Hedley and Jean Mom

He's from Lamar, she's from Reagan.

Lamar was Robert E. Lee's rival by the time I got to high school.

Before lunch started there was a recap of the news which pretty much was a list of who was in the hospital/rehab/ground. Then everyone ate and visited. No alcohol was served. Everyone behaved.

Delivering the news.

I'm not sure I will be able to say the same for my 40th coming in September. 

Dad and Margaret.

Mom swears she always gets a pic of them hugging.

Had to carry on the tradition.

 A note: 

Robert E. Lee High School, my high school, was built in 1962 to relieve overcrowding at Lamar HS.  It is now officially Lee Senior High School and references to General Lee have been removed from the school.  Robert E. Lee was a General in the Confederate Army. 

A little revisionist history anyone? 

Getting Set for No. 35: Go to my 40th High School Reunion

On Pins and Needles in Preparation for No. 35: Go to my 40th High School Reunion

Well,  the plans are set for the Robert E. Lee High School 1974 reunion. 

It will be 40 years since I graduated from High School.

The party is September 6, 2014 which gives me about nine months to get back to looking like this:

(You know, just so everyone recognizes me….)

Me. Back in the 70s.

While I was back in Texas last week, I visited my old place of employment, Mirvana Acupuncture.

And I had a facial acupuncture treatment. 

Warning: These pictures are not for the needle-phobic.

 Me, getting poked.

See? I'm smiling.

Because it DOES NOT hurt.

Facial acupuncture is a wonderful process that makes those delightful little crow's feet less obvious. 

It gives you a glow. 

Results are subtle but obvious.

As in, I arrived at my friend Diana's house on Monday night after waking at 5am, rushing and stressing at the DMV, getting packed and dealing with last minute "O! I forgot we need to pick this up before we leave" demands from the girls, flying two hours (TSA Agents!!), landing in the dark and snow and then driving in that same dark and snow and the first thing she said was "The trip home must have been relaxing. You look so rested."

(The trip home was not relaxing or restful, just to clarify.)

No, dearie, I look rested because I had acupuncture.

And I will be having it again. Not because I want to deny my crow's feet.  I agree with Cameron Diaz on this one:

‘Guess what this means, I’ve smiled my whole life.’  

But I do like looking rested. 

Also, because it is a new year and I'm doing the new year/new look thing, I got a  new haircut.

Still smiling. 

And a little explanation of how facial acupuncture works…

The needles are very fine and slightly feathered.  The practitioner threads the needles just under the skin which causes the body to think "trauma". But really, it's not traumatic at all.  The body then sends blood cells and collagen to repair the area. This plumps the areas where the needles were inserted, making the face look rested and fuller. 

Or you can read the slightly more scientific explanation in this article:

But how can sticking needles into the skin improve our faces?

... when needles are inserted at pressure points, energy and endorphins are released. This minor trauma improves blood flow and stimulates cell re-growth.

'We put needles in at vortex points where energy is travelling to and from organs along lines we call meridians,' she explains. 'When energy flows more efficiently, circulation is improved, helping the body rejuvenate.

'Traumatising the skin by inserting tiny needles will also encourage the production of healing collagen, the protein which the body uses to keep the skin youthful and elastic.'