Time Warp

I went to my Grade 8 reunion this past weekend (yes, that's Grade 8, not eighth grade). I planned a quick, whirlwind, weekend trip to Toronto which I do every 4 months or so to alleviate my Canada withdrawal. Coincidentally, the other two members of the Bobsey triplets (me, Teddy, Sharon) were also going to be in town. Coordinating our schedules is difficult enough (we are rarely in the same city more than once a year, let alone our hometown, since the three of us all work in the States now), so we decided on a reunion. Sharon wasn't about to let it be just any reunion, though...she wanted our entire Grade 8 class to come.

Keep in mind, we had no idea where at least half of these people were. Didn't stop Sharon. Within a week, she had found 14 of the 16 members of our class, as well as our teacher, and had contacted each of them (Sharon - when that viola thing gets old, you may want to consider cyber-stalking as your next line of employment). Everyone she called, who was still in the Toronto area, delightedly agreed to an early Sunday evening meeting at a bar downtown (except for Z, who I guess must still be bitter about being teased 15 years ago, get OVER it, we were 12!).

The meeting felt like a time warp. 15 years later and we all look the same (add facial hair, a little gray, and a few more curves). Not to mention, our lines of employment were predictably in sync with our grade school personalities. From left to right in the picture above, we have:

• The Perpetual Student (finished his PhD classwork when he decided to go back for a law degree)
• The Philosopher (okay, I made this one up, because I don't recall what he's up to, and Philosopher just sounds cool)
• The Engineer (and energy aficionado)
• The Consultant
• The Classical Musician (traveling the world with her $300,000 viola)
• The Investment Banker/Venture Capitalist
• The Phys. Ed./Special Ed. Teacher (inspired by the Original Teacher)
• The Stage Actress (got her debut in the Grade 7 play)
• The Original Teacher (still teaching)
• The Jazz Musician (who is about to head to Japan to teach English and clear his head)
• The Attorney

Hell of a class. Blew me away that after 15 years, we could get together just as if it were 1990. Although, I had trouble calling Mr. J by his first name (who was only two years older than we are right now when he was teaching us), pretty much nothing else had changed. Same class clowns, same quirks, same senses of humour...

Hope I don't have to wait another 15 years to see these phenomenal people. They didn't call us "giftees" for nothing. Good times!