Squad Goals: Dieting for Upcoming High School Reunion by Liz Pearl

This blog, in an abbreviated version, appeared in this month's Her Magazine

Squad Goals: Dieting for Upcoming High School Reunion
Liz Pearl

For years, I have pondered a nagging question: how many more decades will pass before my graduating year (class of ‘81) will plan a high school reunion? The wait is finally over, the planning committee is underway. The official count: it has been 35 years since our graduation. We recently all turned 50. What are we waiting for? The time is now.

Here’s why I finally decided to spearhead the long overdue high school reunion committee.

The self-appointed role gives me a totally legit opportunity to spend more time loitering on Facebook and other enticing social media. Who knows what entertaining discoveries might be revealed along the way?

The reunion prep will provide a welcome opportunity to indulge in nostalgia and satiate my immeasurable need for sentimentality and reminiscing.

This engaging experience will hopefully help me to adjust to the unwelcome empty nest stage I am currently not well-adjusted to.

This forthcoming blast from the past event will potentially empower me to lose a few pounds. (Just thinking about those ‘70’s skin tight high-waisted Just Jeans serves as ample motivation.)

This initiative will allow me to set a good example for my adult kids, all of whom have recently graduated from high school ‒ “There are no friends like old friends!” Kids: some of these friends will be “lifers”.

This approaching gathering will provide one final farewell opportunity to visit my high school building (Montreal: Herzliah High School, Snowden) which I recently learned is scheduled to be relocated sometime soon.

Each of my three siblings has attended, at some point, a high school reunion (same high school) and overall apparently, had a rewarding experience. It’s my turn.

Obviously I would rather connect with former high school classmates at a festive reunion than at a Shiva (sadly, this has already happened a few times). Let’s celebrate the good times.

My husband (also an alumnus of the same high school) has never had a reunion, either. Pathetic. Recently, he reunited with several dispersed classmates after they had all attended the funeral of a dear classmate. How sad is that?

Many of my middle-aged longing-for-our-youth friends have attended high school reunions and generally speaking the reviews have been favorable. (Depressing statistics about disease, death and divorce notwithstanding.)

My kids were fortunate to attend excellent private high schools in Toronto. ‪#‎CHAT (Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto) and ‪#‎CPC (Crestwood Preparatory College). Both of these schools have outstanding alumni departments, incredible assets to the schools, including the faculty, the students and the alumni community. It’s no secret that a topnotch high school produces a resourceful alumni network. I guess it’s time to reconnect and pay it forward.

I was fortunate to have a wonderful high school experience (including all of the usual drama and heartache) at a respected traditional high school in Montreal. ‪#‎HHS (Herzliah High School, Snowdon). It was always considered cool to be a high achieving student, involved in extra-curriculars and a decent person. I’m proud to be a member of this values-based community on Facebook and on other social media. However, sadly, I am part of a sizeable cohort that traversed the 401 Highway from Montreal to Toronto not long after my graduation from high school. Many of my classmates have done the same; that is, migrated to New York, Florida, Boston, London, Israel, and Hong Kong! Etc... It’s a stark reality, not just a passing trend: Anglo exodus from Montreal in the 70s, 80s 90s…In any case, most of us look back fondly on our high school years and generally have good (warm and fuzzy, albeit chilly) feelings about Montreal. Please note: a truly valid demographic study or survey is way beyond the scope of this post. Thankfully, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and other trendy social media have enabled us to share in each other’s lives; we are all just a click away. (True, our Millennial offspring are often needed to assist us with navigating innovative social networking). I’m wondering if there are not some must-have High School Reunion apps somewhere out there in cyberspace. I guess Eventbrite is a simple starting point; I will leave that to the tech committee.

I’m looking forward to finding a keen audience for my faded high school scrapbooks; I am definitely chairing the memorabilia display committee.

Let’s get together sometime soon. The truth is; Montreal is a great city to visit! Call the caterer…let’s get the party started.

There’s still enough time before the reunion to go on a diet.