Have you been back to your high school recently? Walked up the steps with a heartbeat that rivals going in for your first kiss? It felt familar. You see, I had that same feeling every morning as a freshman and sophomore. How I miss the days of paralyzing self-consciousness.
This past weekend I walked the hallowed halls of Reitz Memorial High School for the first time since 1996. There were some structural additions...new wings and an elevator...some teachers missing...the girls no longer wear skirts (I feel bad for the boys and what they are missing), but the smell was still there. You could be kidnapped, blindfolded, and dropped anywhere in that building and you would know where you were. My friend Greg and I blared Pearl Jam's Ten (possibly the soundtrack to those early days) as we pulled up to the front steps...the nostalgia was thick. We walked the halls and remembered Amy Rivers and Christy Hirsch and Anne Dempsey and Angela Sabella and all the women that made us feel inadequate as freshman children. We thought about Miller beating Gary Porters face with a cast...we thought about Crystal Pepsi...we thought about every old memory at once. It felt good in that sad kind of way.
It was good to be back though. You should go visit your old school. Put on a visitor pass and find your old locker...sneak into the cafeteria line and order a salsbury steak with your mandated 2 slices of white bread...and then skip out early before homeroom.
Heres a little Pearl Jam for old times sake...Dont kid yourselves about all the other bands out there...They are still the best around.
Pearl Jam [mp3] Elderly Woman Behind The Counter in a Small Town (live)
Pearl Jam [mp3] I Got Id
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