Reunions!

I went to a 25 yr one and it was lovely , there were only a dozen of us that qualified together so we block booked a nice small hotel and chatted till dawn . Not sure I would be up for it now and not if partners were there , we are getting a bit thin. on the ground now !

For my part, no and no ...
There are some enthusiastic people on both sides of my family who organise large family reunions every five years or so. I have been to one and that was enough for me ... it was tiresome to the point of being painful to be amongst people with whom I have so little in common. As someone who has moved house and area several times, I have made friends who are more like family to me and find the need to gather as a tribe rather alien.

As for the potential of a school reunion - yuk! I have done ok in life, but feel this would be a 'parade ' occasion for the great and good who feel they have done better! Maybe my own small mindedness, but not going to go there .

Sounds to me like you have built sustained friendships with the people who matter to you and it would be a lot of bother for very little potential return. Why not just have a nice weekend away for yourselves - oh, and that nice new outfit .

If your husband and his friends want to go, why don't you and the other wives go off to a spa or something for the weekend.
I can't think of anything worse than going to a reunion that isn't anything to do with me.

If you know and like the friends your H was close to and get on well with them and their wives , I would stick to seeing them regularly and give the planned reunion a wide berth,unless of course your H really wants to go, then you must give him your full support.
I suspect it is a chance, as you say , to show off a bit as to just how successful people have been.
As for me a night in a hotel would never be turned down, so I may show my face for an hour and then retire for a lovely meal and a bottle of good wine.?

I agree with Pamela, let the men talk about their memories and you go off with the other ladies.
I've had to do a lot of sweet smiling, looking interested, feigning amazement etc. next to my husband at functions, (and I was actually more qualified than these people were!). It's so boring.
At least on their own maybe you could get the ladies talking about food, fashion, pets. There may be a stately home or a NT property nearby you could all visit together as a ladies' group, then have tea somewhere.

Ah Yes, annsixty, room service and a bottle of wine. Why didn't I ever think of that?!

Our first thought was to say no but one of our friends is going and we feel mean not supporting him and jis wife. She is his second wife so knows few people and has been ill. The rest of our little group are adamant they are not going.

Then we had a lovely email from the organiser which guilt tripped us a bit.

Family reunions are a whole different thing and I'm afraid we are largely responsible for organising them. We love them.

kitty each to their own . If a family reunion brings you joy then yes, go for it! I realised I meandered a bit and that you were posting about a works reunion. I think if you have a core of you that are going that will make all the difference.

I try not to 'do guilt', but still go through it every time there is a family reunion and I say I am not attending!

I must tell this story but be circumspect in case of recognition.
The H of a good friend of mine recently received a gilded invitation to attend a reception to mark 50 years since he was admitted to a well respected Institution. It was to be held at a university not too far away so they decided to go.
He was to receive a gold pin marking the occasion and there was to be a ceremony followed by a drinks and canapes reception.
My friend can always see the funny side of any situation and tells the story well.They arrived late afternoon and were amazed at the number of people milling around. They had been expecting a handful of people judging by the age everyone must be.
There were hundreds, she had never seen so many Zimmer frames and walking aids and wrinkles of both genders.
They joined the queue to register and H was given an envelope containing the promised gold pin and tickets to be handed over for a glass of warm white wine, someone made a speech and it was over.
They had been expecting a graduation type ceremony with all the recipients going up ( to loud applause) to receive their honour.
They both thought it was hilarious and were very pleased they hadn't travelled any distance to attend.
I still haven't seen the gold pin.

I don't think it will be that underwhelming Ann but this lot all seem to revert to being hard drinking, undergraduates and forget they are now 70+ and retired professional men. The female graduates are altogether more circumspect!

It's a student reunion - not a works reunion.

A big no-no for me!. I have never been to any reunion of any type, can't stand the idea of all the bragging that would go on. I have also never walked back through the door of my workplace since I retired, although a few of us have kept in touch.
I hope you will enjoy the occasion if you go Kitty, and enjoy choosing a new outfit.

You don't sound keen - fair enough (neither would I) but what does your DH feel? Think this one is up to him, although of course you don't have to go!

Obviously, if DH wanted to go, I would too. He is wavering and I'm leaving the decision up to him - it's his reunion. We missed the last one ten years ago for family reasons and he thought he might have enjoyed it but,basis time there will be fewer of his long time friends there as two have major health problems and one has died.

My feeling is that if he had wanted to he could have seen the others over the past 50 years. But, it must be his excision!

And, if we don't go, I could have 2 new outfits with the saving!!

I have never had the urge to go my reunions though, I would love to see some of the girls from my grammar school who really sapped my confidence. And my domestic science teacher who said I was so hopeless that I shouldn't get married and have children as they'd all die of starvation or poisoning.

I'd introduce her to my 5 children, their partners and my 8 dgc - all alive and well!!

We've both been to school reunions and it was fascinating to see what people had done with their lives. My reunion gave me the opportunity to see friends I hadn't bothered to keep in touch with before but now I see every couple of years. We love reminiscing and talking about our children, etc.
I don't think "boasting" ever came into the equation but, if it did, it went over the top of our heads.
I went to my husband's school reunion with his and although there were times I felt a bit superfluous, on the whole it was interesting meeting the people he had talked about or didn't remember!

In a word, no.
DD once had an invitation to attend a ceremony to receive a diploma, she informed them she wasn't about to travel several hundred miles and pay for travel and hotel for a work related diploma. She received a message back saying she must attend as she was guest of honour and it was all expenses paid, apparently she had achieved 100% and was the best in the country

If you enjoy family reunions and want to support your friend and his wife, why not go? Always nice to have a new dress .

Why would you need a new outfit? Presumably these people haven't seen the nice gear you currently have. Any excuse for a bit of general socialising always sounds good to me but I have discovered it's usually the 'more successful' who tend to attend. If things are not going your way and you are having an overnighter it is very easy to withdraw surrepticiously. I would certainly be inclined to go. Good luck with whatever you decide.

If your husband would really like you to be there and all you have to is turn up to a couple of events, smile and make small talk and (if you're very, very lucky) escape with other wives/partners or hole up in your hotel room with a drink, a good book or a movie maybe its not such a big deal? Just a couple of quite possibly very boring days in the context of a long term relationship.

The mere thought of a school reunion fills me with horror, but I do keep in touch with ex-work friends and love seeing them, it's like sinking into a warm bath being with them. A trick I sometimes use when I dither is to toss a coin. If you feel disappointed with the result, do the opposite; if you feel relieved, go ahead. Another technique is to ask yourself if you'd go if it were tomorrow: sometimes an invitation to something in December sounds like a good idea in August, but then when December gets nearer the feeling of anticipation turns into dread (known as Distant Elephants.) Have fun!

DH had a school reunion about 20 years ago. I refused to go. If you don't want to, why not just ask for the new outfit!
Since then a group of them have kept in touch and have been meeting every 18 months or so. This is emphatically NOT a reunion like those. We meet and stay wherever for a few days, spend most of our time walking and having lunch in pubs with good beer, then take a bus back to the hotel/b&b and enjoy the evening together. We are meeting again next month. It is very enjoyable, and hilarious to see those 70_ behaving like silly school boys, squabbling and joshing

Why am I in pink???

So that you can quickly recognise your last post.

We all are now on our own post. You haven't been singled out ?

I'm in the pink too? Was it something I said?