In the aftermath of COVID, our new reality inspired the masses to realign their priorities and values. When bar-going opened back up as an enterprise, so too did the common practice of flocking to one’s beloved local watering hole to either officially or unofficially gather for that thing we dread — or mark it in our calendars and circle it red — called high school reunions.
The Messenger surely cosigns all blast-from- the-past get-togethers that are as safely put on as they are chock full of nostalgia. This is especially evidenced within our coverage of Islip High School’s multi-class penchant for reunions at places like Islip Beach, Maxwell’s and Harp & Hound.
A high school reunion no longer has to be the most thoroughly planned out thing in the world, either. In fact, you don’t have to count down the days, you can drop everything and see the old gang today.
Moreover, at a high school reunion, it’s all about what once was— and what can be again. And in that scenario where the person who was once mean to you when you were 14 shows up, well, that they’re there perhaps suggests maturation upon arrival.
If they’re there to bury the hatchet, let them. You may never get a chance for closure quite like this. And a decade’s worth of regulars can attest that, literally every week, there is high school reunion adjacency all around this establishment, where members of opposing cliques collide to unwind and confide like no one has since The Breakfast Club.
Who knows? Maybe this was the exact burst of life allotment reassurance you needed too. You’ll share what you’ve been up to and realize it was all in your head, man, you are absolutely killing it— there was nothing to fear but fear itself. I think my history teacher taught me that one. Did you have her too?
So too are your fellow bargoers on this night here, forever and always, proving that success is relative, and occasional excess in extemporaneous doses is imperative.
Earlier generations would have admonished the familiar faces all around you in this bar you typically speed on by for being quote-unquote townies. But, last we checked, it’s not a bad thing to stay close to home, nor to support local business.
Conclusively put: the best time to hold a high school reunion is the time that works best for all— just as long as everyone’s invited.
Everyone that wants to go, will, and everyone who never cared wouldn’t dare.
