Reunions can be unsettling, compelling
Regrets and high school reunions certainly can go hand in hand, and they do so poignantly in Craig Wright’s offbeat 2000 romance, “The Pavilion.” The story is set at a 20-year high school reunion in Minnesota in a lakeside pavilion, one full of memories, that is about to be burned down (a metaphor that soon became obvious). Peter and Kari, high school sweethearts, haven’t seen each other in 20 years, and their parting was anything but amicable. After learning Kari was pregnant with his child, Peter dumped her and went off to college. Kari had no idea Peter would be at the reunion, but he came looking for her. Peter’s personal life has been a continuous disaster and he thinks Kari can change that. But Kari is married — unhappily. She is also very angry about what Peter did to her. The myriad other characters, all played by one actor, are caricatures surrounding the story. The same actor is the narrator, who fills in details and places an unnecessary philosophy around it.
From a review by Jim Lowe in the Barre Montpelier Times Argus, Vermont.
‘Nobody else mattered anymore’
When Laura Gentry played clarinet up front in the Snowden School band, Randall Tims was with the trumpeters in back. They rarely spoke.
How did you finally get face-to-face? Family members who knew one another suggested facebook.
Laura: “He ‘friended’ me.
When did the spark ignite?
Laura: “I crashed my friend’s reunion at Central High to see everybody from elementary school.”
Randy: “I saw her, said hey, gave her a hug … and nobody else mattered anymore. We never looked away from each other.”
Laura: “It was a total connection.”
By Anita Houk. Featured in Couple’s Secrets in BeeLoveWorks, Memphis, Tennessee.
Couple celebrates anniversary after Facebook reunion
Social-networking websites are often used by people to reconnect with high school buddies, long-lost relatives, and business associates. But for one Choteau, Montana, couple, facebook was a match-maker decades later.
In the summer of 1971, a Christian singing group from Arkansas made a stop in Livingston, Montana. That was the first time Julie met W.L.
Julie recalled, “He was tall, dark hair, handsome.” And W.L. said, “I remember thinking, ‘Wow.'”
Julie attended every practice session, but the group left and life went on. Julie got married. W.L. never did and says he spent 38 years asking, ‘Where’s Julie? Where’s Julie?'”
After decades someone suggested he use facebook. Julie found W.L. and requested his friendship online. The relationship progressed and soon W.L. asked Julie to marry him.
W.L. said, “I wasn’t going to let her get away again.”
And Julie said, “”I felt like a teenager.”
One year later, they use facebook to share pictures and stories from their life together.
