So, last week I met up with some of my best friends from college. For most of ‘em, it had been years since we’d seen each other.
It’s amazing how you can see old friends and start remembering things that you’d all but forgotten.
Like when Tyson and I were standing on the Flaming Gorge bridge (about 65 feet up) and were too chicken to jump, but then these bikini clad cuties walked up and told us we were so cool for jumping off. So, we jumped. And almost died. And never saw those girls again because they ditched us.
Or the time when we went midnight skinny dipping at the hot pots and all the guys got out and did the can can, and how we thought it was too dark for the girls to see anything, but here 13 years later we’re learning otherwise.
Or the time we went on a road trip and made it onto The Price is Right.
Or the time when I made a doodle on a post-it note and decided to get it tattooed onto my back, and somehow 13 years later the same friends who laughed with me in the tattoo parlor were laughing again because they got me to take my shirt off and show them.
We talked about old boyfriends and girlfriends, missing friends, and our current relationships (or lack thereof).
We talked about our kids. Our jobs. And our families.
We talked about our health problems and our near death experiences and we talked about how talking about that stuff really made us old.
And more than anything, we remembered how much we loved each other and how much fun we all had. And, we made plans to do it all again soon.
Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
PS. Do you love connecting with old friends as much as I do? If you were to connect with your college friends, what are some of the funny stories you would reminisce about?
For me it's high school or jr. high buddies, I'm just getting around to college now; that's what happens when you're married at 19. I'm actually getting together with one of my best childhood buds tomorrow, haven't seen each other since 1998, right after h.s. graduation. So excited to see her and just catch up. Talk about the stupid stuff we used to do, and the stupid stuff we did apart. Show off our tattoos, we each have one, got my first in April. Show pics of kids, etc. I have really missed her.
great post. And I agree, nothing like catching up after many years. Funny how the girls that were "hot" at school are frumpy plane janes now, and the unassuming quite girls are now the hot mommies? For me, the big problem is that most of the guys I schooled with have passed, and no, not age related. 50ish. Most died soon after school due to motorbike . car accidents, and a whole bunch killed in the war (South Africa v the rest of the communist world in Namibia - then South West Africa, and Angola). So, memories we have, revisiting them, not so easy.
Thanks......
Salagatle!
I love catching up with old college and high school friends. It feels like getting part of myself back that I'd forgotten about. And there is always a ton of laughing.
I think it's sweet how you made sure your arms were reaching to touch everyone in the photo. =)
All I can say is I am terribly, terribly glad that Facebook did not exist in my 20's. I went to college in New Orleans when the drinking age was still 18. I think that says enough.
My son's friends did some funny things. They were pure entertainment! One night they Saran wrapped their friend in the front yard until he couldn't move! I video taped it but had to stop them when they were putting him in the back of a pickup to take him to the grocery store and leave him by the door!! My son was a heavy sleeper. All of his friends came over but he wouldn't get up. He woke up to all of his posters on his wall turned upside down! They stayed that way until he moved out after college!!
Still in touch with most of my university friends, so we don't do a whole heap of reminiscing these days because, well, it gets old after a while when you're chatting with them regularly. But one of the highlights has always been the "Death By Chocolate" party I hosted for our social club during my first year. Enterance fee was "bring something chocolate, and no, a packet of choclate biscuits won't cut it". One guy turned up with an enormous Black Forest cake and announced that "no-one driving could have any, because there's half a bottle of brandy in it... and the other half's in this jug of cream!"
That was a seriously awesome cake. 15 years on, everyone who was at that party still remembers it. And remembers that no matter how skinny a slice you cut, it was impossible to finish!
since i know your feelings about religion, can i ask what the meaning is for you to wear a cross around your neck??
@Jenniferwalsh82 I was wondering the same thing!
Whenever I go back to my old stomping grounds, my friends are still there, still talking about the time Dave got deported from East Germany for taking pictures, or the time half the folk dance troupe got wasted and showed up to a gig weaving all over. (My dad, the German teacher, was in a towering rage, but did nothing about it, to my utter amazement.) We pick up like there were never decades between the last times we went rappelling and tossed chicken bones on each other, and this time when we have bum knees and mortgages.
when we snuck into the music building after hours and changed all the signs on the professors doors, the bathrooms, the closets, etc. as an april fools prank. And the time we contact papered my door in white paper and drew on it all semester long. And our rules for cutthroat uno. And the green shack we lived in that got spongy when it rained, had a family of birds in the attic that kept appearing in the bathroom, and the window that just fell out one day.
good times indeed! love reconnecting, and reliving all those not so smart moments! i actually like to share some of these with my oldest child (now in HS himself) so he may know that his mom was cool once and that there is nothing wrong with being silly!
Dan, sorry if I'm blowing your status up. I just have lots of funny stories. :)
@Brittany- I'm lucky I didn't get alcohol poisoning! I did eventually get him back. I was 22 and he had an open top jeep. It was the first rain of the season and it came out of nowhere. My friends and I bought bags of flour and eyeliner and lipstick. We went over to his house and right as it started sprinkling we poured flour all over the inside of his jeep (dummy had left the top down) and wrote all over his jeep with the eyeliner and lipstick. He came bolting out the door with a knife just as we were rolling away. My friend Christine had to run and jump in the car while we were leaving. I wonder how long it took him to get the "glue" out of his cloth seats. :) I'll hand it to him tho, with as much crap as we put each other through, he went to my mom's funeral and held me when I cried a few months after this incident took place. He's a piece of crap and a piece of work but deep down he loved me and had a good heart. His girlfriend (now wife) didn't want him to go to my mom's funeral because she thought we would get back together or something (we dated on and off for 6 years. From the time I was 15 until I was 21 and apparently she felt threatened) but he went anyway because he knew I needed him. I still wear the promise ring he gave me on our 6 month anniversary and think about the good times.
Or on 9/11/01 my friend Brandi had an appt to get her web pierced and she called me and asked of I thought the piercing place would be open. Here's how the convo went down: Brandi- Hey, Melissa, where are you? Me- At Starbucks, they are about to close because of the events today. I'm going to head to the Revue (another coffee shop that had remained open). Brandi- Do you think Spears of Shiva will still be open? Me- Brandi, I can't believe you're still thinking about that. We just got attacked by a foreign country and the whole USA is in a panic right now and you're concerned because Shiva's might be closed? You amaze me sometimes. Brandi- Yeah, well, this whole day sucks because of that but do you think they'll still be open? Me- Brandi, oh my god. *sigh* Yes, they are open. Brandi- Good, I'll be there in a few minutes and I'll meet you at the Revue. Me- Okay, I ordered you your favorite coffee. See you soon.
Melissa I loved the story about your ex! Reminds me when my ex and I broke up. He had left his clothes, boots, movies, and car here. I so wanted to bust in a window, push it to the back of my lot, throw all his stuff in there, and set it on fire... But my sister wouldn't let me, lol.
A favorite is when a friend missed a day of school and we taped her pic to milk cartons and asked if people had seen her! OMG, she laughs about that to this day!
Or there was the time my friend Bre and I went to San Francisco and got lost in the Tenderloin district. For those that don't know, that's NOT an area you want to be lost in. We stopped at a mini mart to buy a map and while we were at the counter the cashier was talking to a customer and said "Don't talk about that right now" and gestured to us. I'm pretty sure we witnessed a meth deal going down. We bought our map and booked it out of there.
My nursing instructor and I had the same color/style glasses frames. I once went to her desk to ask a question with my glasses in my hand and switched my glasses for hers - they were lying on her desk. A few minutes later she put on the glasses. Hilarious while she tried to figure out what the problem was!
Or there's the story about when I was 20 I went to my friend Josh's party and got so drunk I couldn't even stand and puked all over his front porch screaming that all I needed was a match and some gasoline and I'd set my exboyfriend's house on fire. We had just broken up (he was my first boyfriend and had asked me to marry him a few weeks before) and he started dating my best friend/roommate. Here's how the convo went: Me- all I need is a match and some gasoline and I'll walk down there and set his house on fire! Josh- but Melissa, you can't even walk right now. Me- then ill roll my butt down there! Where there's a will there's a way! Josh and I had been matching shot for shot of Jack Daniels. It ended when I had 15 shots and he started drinking from the bottle. Projectile puke everywhere. Sad story but funny now. PS- I wouldn't have really set his house on fire, I was just so hurt, mad and betrayed. My first broken heart. Josh lived about 2 blocks away from him at the time. I haven't touched Jack Daniels since. I was smelling it for days due to the puke in my sinuses. A few hours later while I was on his couch he came out and screamed LET'S PARTY and promptly passed out again. Lol.
@Ethel- Here's another 4 year old me story. My sister and I were watching The Wizard of Oz at my Aunt Debbie's house (my mom's best friend and my godmother) and I called to Aunt Debbie that the tv wasn't working (because in the beginning it's black and white). She managed to time it right and pounded on the tv when it turned to color and said it was fixed. I was satisfied until the end of the movie when it went black and white again. I called her and she put on her best "I'm confused and concerned" face and told me that something must be wrong with the tv and she's better get it replaced. I had NO idea until MUCH later that the movie was supposed to be that way. Hahahahahaha
Yeah I can't top that one! LOL
Haha you're welcome. I was soooo angry! I gave my mom a good talking to when I got home. She just laughed and said she thought she was protecting me. I was a really sensitive (and gullible) kid. Be careful what you tell your kids, folks! :)
The time we were all at Denny's and were taking about Bambi and how it was so sad when his mother died. I told them that Bambi's mom didn't die, she was out foraging for food and met up at the end of the movie. Turns out my sneaky mother muted the tv when the shot was fired and when I asked where Bambi's mommy was that's the story she told me. I had no idea until I was 19 that his mom died from a hunter. They still give me crap to this day about it and we are all in our early 30s.
@Melissa, I think that's the funniest story I've heard in a long time. Thanks for sharing!
Picture of this post-it note tattoo? :)
Interesting question, I don't know that I have very many people that I would get together with after all these years. I have some friends I still meet from those years. (One I met the day after I was born, he's younger than me,) but I really can't imagine putting a lot of effort into reconnecting with High School or University friends, maybe people from my Masters, but then my job puts me in touch with them fairly often. The sad truth is I was a lot more boring back then then I am now.
hmmmm....midnight sledding on the bluffs behind our old high school (slightly drunk, of course). Playing hide and seek at midnight in City Park. How many times David had to use his wench to get his truck out of some crazy place he shouldn't have been anyway. Impromptu dinner and movie nights at my house. Campaign hijinks (we were student gov't. types in college). The annual camping trips. Fun times, I tell you. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
@Magoop I'm just wondering how you use a wench to get your truck out. She must be an extremely well pumped wench!
@HeidiMurphy hehe-- i noticed that after I posted, too-- I think it must be spelled "winch". :) Seriously, though, how many guys really NEED to have their own winches to get themselves out of places? That guy was crazy!! He's getting paid back though, now-- his kids are teenagers! :)