Because apparently 14 years is noteworthy?

I had always said I wouldn't go back to TBay for my highschool reunion. I dunno - there was something about going back to that place in time that felt, fake to me. I guess, because my parents went through a nasty separation when I was a teenager and I grew up faster than I wanted to in some instances, that by the time I got to university I felt I really got to grow and 'come into myself'.

When I went home my first Christmas I remember being double-fisted in the bar at 8:00 p.m.* and trying to make small talk with people from my graduating class that I realized, 'you know, I never really even LIKED you, I was just polite and nice to you because of my position at the school**.' I decided then and there that there was no way I could go back to that every summer and pretty much from that point on, I had left TBay for good.

A few weeks ago, a message showed up in my Facebook inbox from a former classmate checking dates on what would work for us 'out of towners' for a highschool reunion.

But instead of running for the hills screaming in pain, I took a minute to reflect on the opportunity. And as so happens so often these days, I surprised myself, and I'm sure IS and JF who I always proclaimed I would 'never go to one of those things', and replied back with a 'you know what? I'm in.'

July 24, 2010. 14 years + a few weeks after my highschool graduation, I'm heading back for a little trip down memory lane. If anything, it'll be a good few days on the road as I plan to do the trek solo across the province. I need it to clear my head, gain my composure and figure out just where I'm headed next. I fully expect to come home with some perspective if it's nothing other than to remark on the fact that...

You've come a long way, baby.



* In TBay, unlike Ottawa, you go to the bar at 8pm or you'll never get in as EVERYONE in the city goes to just one bar each night. I like to call it 'the circuit.' What that means though is that you're in by 8 or 9 and there until closing time. Best get drunk ASAP and then the night's a blur ;o)

** I was co-president of our HS for two years in a row.