50th High School Reunion...on the fence about going or not

[willrothfuss]

I just reread your posts, and it seems like you have what I'll call a "chip on your shoulder" about your HS experience. Not judging- I understand. I will agree with dguff that you need a positive attitude and be willing to extend yourself socially- it's no different from a party where you don't know anyone. If you can't have fun in a situation like that, you probably won't enjoy the reunion. Like I said in my first response, my HS experience was unusual- it was our entire life for those years. So if you want to learn something about yourself and can reach out to others socially- be proactive, then you will get something out of it.

[Tom&Shelly]

My fellow cohorts, I wouldn't (didn't) click on that link!

Tom

[featherliteCT1]

C'mon Tom, click on the link and tell us what it says ...

[Tom&Shelly]

C'mon Tom, click on the link and tell us what it says ...

Not until my computer gets its booster shot!

Tom

[Vnose]

• Let me preface this by saying that I'm not the same guy that I was 50 years ago, and worlds apart from who I was even 33 years ago, when I became a teetotalist. I've been compared to Mr. Spock, then Dr.Jeckyll & Mr.Hyde,and called Mad Dog (I later asked them to call me Mild Dog, as I became older, and tamer) by my friends(?) & especially my co-workers (for 46 years at one job), so you can see that I have varied over the years.
• I've suffered so many setbacks (some self-induced) and betrayals (by close family, and best friends, mostly) over the years, that I have left/discarded most relationships of any kind several times, and started afresh, with new friends(?) compartmentalized (unconsciously by me) into special interest groups, with no cross-over to other groups. My work friends never became afterwork friends, nor long-time neighbors, and my racing friends didn't either; and so far, none of my camping friends have (most likely because I/they don't really know each other well enough, yet).
• So, that's why now, a year away from my 50th HS reunion, I'm starting to get feelers from my old high school friends, to call them, after at least 45 years without communicating; do I really want to open up lines of communications with people who left my circle, or were left by me, after so many years? There are many memories that I might not want to recall, given my past record of personality quirks, not to mention theirs? Has anyone, especially a basically introverted-to-dominant person, an INTJ (Meyers-Briggs Type personality), faced this dilemma?
• I am just now starting to express myself on some camping/trailer Facebook pages (after avoiding FB like the plague for years), and a couple of ex-co-workers have spotted me, and now a couple of high school buddies have, too. It's not like the anonymity of using specific-interest forums like this one, or any of the other forums I've been on for 20? years: I was always just "working on it", or a variant, anonymously posting, without further contact. I find it very difficult to change a lifetime pattern of separation, at this late date, but then again, I am curious as to how my old buddies fared over the years. I'm quite pessimistic about renewing old contacts, based on previous bad outcomes, over my lifetime. Any Dr.Phils' out there???

I missed my 50th since I was in Fulton at the time. Yes, we all change, even if you don't want to, it happens. From my experience I dropped out and like you I'm transitioning back into society. I decided to let the past stay in the past, that was the advice of my attorney and my parole officer. I'll probably have a hard time around females for some time, it's been 17 years, so I don't get on some sites of the internet.
Hope you find yourself before anyone else does. Besides, all the kids I was in school with would just be bragging about their new cars and how much they hated having to deal with gardeners, the pool boy and employees. Besides, all the pretty girls you knew have gained 50 pounds, lost hair, have ill fitting dentures and pull an oxygen bottle around, you don't need that ole' buddy.