Reunited

Last weekend, Mer had her 20th high school reunion. Friday was an unofficial and informal reunion at a restaurant in Akron, and Saturday was the real thing at a country club in Uniontown.

Friday (the 3rd) was a Facebook-generated get-together for the class of 1990 to get together before the reunion and have a good time eating and talking. It was held at the Barley House in downtown Akron, and Mer and I are pretty fond of the food there, so it had a promising start. There were about 8 people there by the time Mer and I arrived, and they had strung together a bunch of tables to make a big table. As more people showed up, the group kept adding tables. By the time we were all together, there were about 16 people taking up 4 or 5 tables pushed together. It was an interesting and entertaining group. The eventual large size of the group limited conversation, so I mostly chatted with Eric and his wife, who were holding down my end of the table. Eric and his wife live in Tennessee and had come in for the reunion.  I found out that Eric and his wife have three kids, that Eric has his own practice as an optometrist, his wife has a degree in speech therapy, and they were about to start homeschooling their children.

Mer sat closer to the center of the group and so chatted with more people. She seemed to have a very good time catching up with people. The food was slow to be ordered since we kept having people coming in over time, but when it came, it was good. The evening finally came to an end as the live band started playing, which more or less ended conversation. I had a chance to observe the group as Mer went to the restroom before we left; they were a group of five – two black men who were lead rappers, a white guy on drums and one on guitar, and a white girl on bass. They actually had a really good sound, and the two lead singers were tightly choreographed and had a good show going. On the way home, Mer and I stopped off for ice cream at Handel’s since we did not get dessert at the restaurant.

Saturday, Mer and I started the day off by going to northwest Akron and eating at First Watch, a restaurant that is part of the Summit Mall complex. It is a good breakfast place, and had excellent hot chocolate. It probably will not unseat Wally Waffle as my favorite breakfast place, but it was very good.

Mer then took the afternoon to get her hair done, and we then got dressed for the evening. We swung south of the reunion to pick up Mer’s fellow classmate Trish. Trish was in town from Seattle, and she had combined the reunion with a vacation to see her good friend from childhood who lives in Canton. Trish turned out to be a hoot – lots of fun, energetic, and very funny.

We made our way back to Uniontown to the Prestwick Country Club, where the party was being held. We wandered in and made our way to a ballroom where we realized that everyone in there was quite a bit older than we were (it turned out to be another reunion – their 40th, I think). We beat a hasty retreat and found our reunion room.

The space was nice – there was a reception table and a dining area set up with five tables of eight (forty altogether). There was a separate room that was a bar and dance floor, and that was where the appetizers were served. Not including spouses, there were about 22 or 23 members of the class of 1990 by the time everyone was there, and Mrs. Allen (the class advisor) and her husband were there as well.

I spent much of the early evening talking to Mer’s classmate Jen, who is a heart doctor and turned out to be very funny. She has been unemployed for three months but still was able to laugh about it. I really had a great time chatting with her.

Dinner was buffet-style, and the food was good. The tables only held eight, and I knew two or three of the other people at our table, so that was fun. After supper, we went into the ballroom, and the class members each got a chance to tell people what they had been up to. Mer shared about CVCA and what has changed in the last few years, so that took up her time in the spotlight. After a class photo was taken, there was a drawing for some very nice raffle prizes. Mer had bought five tickets, and managed to win a date night – a $25 gift certificate to PF Chang’s in Akron and two movie tickets. Not bad for a $5 investment!

We took Trish home, and headed homeward ourselves. We were still dressed up, and it had been about three hours since the meal, so I took Mer to Friday’s for dessert. Only the bar area was open, but they were still serving dessert, so we got some of Friday’s excellent brownie obsessions. With a bit of a sweet tooth addiction, here’s hoping we still look good for the 25th reunion.

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