Ten years gone, Part 7

“Ten Years Gone” is one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs, and I planned to post it at some point while writing about my high school career. Though these posts have become very untimely, especially since my senior year was underway 11 years ago now, I felt tonight was the perfect occasion to get the Led out since my 10-year class reunion is set to kick-off in a couple minutes at the First Avenue Club.

I am obviously not going. Yes, I said I have no reasonable excuse not to attend, but I am being lazy, unadventurous, and timid. Plus, today marks the end of the regular season for many college football teams, so the reunion needed to take a backseat. It is lamentable prioritization, especially since college football happens every fall and my class reunion is a once-every-decade event. Even my mom chastised me. There is nothing I can say to defend myself. Here I sit on my couch, watching the Notre Dame-Stanford and Florida State-Florida games with Mervgotti, a fellow ‘01er, while the free beer at the First Avenue Club starts flowing.

Without hesitation, Mervgotti would say he has no regrets about not going. (Honestly, he was probably dead set against going from the start.) But do I regret it? Perhaps. One reason I thought about going was just to do it, just to say I did. Who cares who else was there or not? Though I was not close to any of the confirmed attendees on Facebook, it is not like I did not know them. Regardless, it is pointless deliberating now. I am not there.

In his own “10 years gone” post, Bobblehead touched on one of Mervgotti’s reasons for not going: nobody has changed. It got me thinking: is that really true? None of us have changed? My knee jerk reaction is to think we have. Seriously — it has been an entire decade! Most of us were relatively naïve 18-year-olds when each of us took a turn walking across the stage at Hancher. Personally, I know I am much more mature, balanced, and experienced than I was that day. At least I feel that way. A lot has happened in the last 10 years, and we have all, no doubt, learned a lot about ourselves and the world around us. The world has undoubtedly changed us, and we have undoubtedly changed the world. Perceptions and ambitions have changed.

Yes, I believe we have all changed, and even Mervgotti needs to admit it. He recently told me a story dating to his days working at a golf course. He was once approached by one of the most notorious jocks from our class, who, along with his equally arrogant twin, probably ruined the high school experience of many classmates. He apologized to Mervgotti for how they treated him in school; they felt bad for having teased him so badly. When I heard that I though, “Wow. Those guys actually grew up?” Mervgotti told them it was no big deal, but I am sure many of our fellow classmates would love to hear a similar apology — and probably love to tell them, “Fuck off! You made my life miserable and you need to live with it, cocksucker!”

Well, the reunion is about half over. I have no clue what it would have been like, but I suppose I should have attended to find out. Perhaps I will in 2021.