The Ryan Family: Class of '84 Reunion

The Class of 1984 of KHHS had their 25th reunion this past weekend (Sept 19 & 20, 2009) and it was an amazing time of seeing old friends, reconnecting with them, and laughing til we couldn't breathe anymore! We are spread all over, mostly in the southern states. Sadly, I won the "Farthest Traveled" award - not sure how I feel about that! But this reunion far exceeded my expectations (the 10th was a bomb...). We attended the high school football game on Friday night and it was very fun to be back in the stands. We sat by the band (which is very little these days :( and it's amazing the memories that came to us!

On Saturday, there was a family picnic and then that evening we had a nice dinner and dance at The Hilltop Restaurant in Orange Park. My very best friends from high school were there, Helen, Lisa and Toinia and David. We laughed constantly until our cheeks hurt. At one point, someone came over to us and said "I wish I had gone to band camp with you guys! You're having more fun than anyone else here!". We were having a blast reminiscing about crazy times. Throughout the weekend, I realized how rare this was - to be with people who I had known since 3rd grade. These days, it seems that families move more and kids aren't in one place their whole lives. My friend Lisa were talking about when we moved away, we were eager to get away from small town life, but as we've grown older, we treasure the safety and security it brought. Many people who had moved away have moved back to raise their kids there.

We spent a lot of time with Toinia and David boating and just having fun on the lake. They had loaded the iPod with 80s music and played it while we were out on the water - so fun! Casey and Austin LOVED tubing and are begging Daddy for a boat next summer! We had late nights and great conversations. They now have ten children and have been married for 26 years. David and Cary were instantly bonded by a similiar sense of humor. Among the hilarious laughter was a great connection. We're already planning our next get together!

Today, Cary commented to me about what a great time he had at my reunion and how everyone was just genuine, not caring or even asking each other about jobs, etc. It was just a sense (maybe in our old age!) of getting to know people from our childhood again and how important those friendships were in shaping us.

Beautiful Lake Santa Fe (it took me a while to get over the fact that gators are in there! But I did. Eventually.)

Casey was all about going faster, and Austin was all about going slower - but they both loved it and went again and again.

I love this moment of David teaching my son how to kneeboard. It was a little surreal because the last time I was in a boat with him, we were kids ourselves!