If July was all about birthdays then August, well August was all about reunions. Within one month I had reunions with friends from high school, college and grad school.

It started at Ted and Tara’s wedding. Having gone to college with Ted and graduate school with Tara I should have guessed that their wedding would be a reunion for me… but I had no idea how many friends from Lewis & Clark and the University of Oregon would be attending the wedding. Friends like Suzanne and Renne whom I’ve kept in touch with since leaving LC had made the trek, and it was great to catch up. On top of that so many other art major friends whom I haven’t seen since graduating over 15 years ago made their way to the wedding including Trey and Amy. Trey’s warmth and Amy’s energy made it feel like we were in the studio together again.

I’m fortunate to be surrounded by oodles of friends from grad school, but not everyone has decided to live in Portland so it was amazing to see Anne and Valerie and relive our crazy days in architecture school. We worked hard and played hard in Eugene and had whacky fun times… this wedding reunion felt like we were right back in Eugene.

Just two weeks later a real reunion took place. It’s been 20 years since I graduated from Wilson High School and so it was time to gather the troops and spend an evening (or weekend really) catching up, reminiscing and feeling like I was 18 again. I may not have graduated in 1999 (it was really 1988), but as Prince sings I sure partied like it was.

Mini reunions began earlier in the week with the highlight being the Portland premiere of Scott Prendergast’s new film, Kabluey. The audience was filled with WHS grads and I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt incredibly proud of Scott’s incredible achievement. His film is amazing and truly showcases the talent we all knew he had in high school.

Saturday night was the main event and I don’t know about anyone else, but I felt like I couldn’t talk fast enough. There were so many people to catch up with, so many stories to hear and tell, so many memories to recall. In high school I had a notorious habit of crashing early, often times in cars on the way to parties or nights out with friends… and I have to say that habit hasn’t receded with time. But come midnight when the lights went up in the ballroom I was still energized and ready for the night to continue… and continue it did.

By the time my “night” ended I had been kicked out of the hotel, played beer pong until nearly sunrise, crashed in a random bed when my eyes couldn’t stay open just one minute longer, and slinked away in the mid-morning hours once my car was no longer blocked in. It felt like high school again – and a great way to honor my young years! I only wish more friends had been there to relive it all together.