Don't You Forget About Me

by Jancee Dunn

At thirty-eight, Lillian Curtis thinks she has a great life: great husband, fantastic job, wonderful apartment. Until she comes home one day to hear her husband say he wants a divorce. Distraught, she heads home to her parents, returning to her bedroom that has stayed the same since her high-school days. And with her 20-year high-school reunion looming, Lillian finds herself with a chance to find out - What if her high-school boyfriend was the one?

Having just come off a 20-year high-school reunion, this book said out loud a lot of the things I had been thinking at that time. I especially liked the realization that back with our high-school friends, we revert to our high-school roles. The popular kids are still popular, the smart kids are still smart, the jocks are still jocky, and the rest of us still don't know where we stand with all of them. Why isn't it possible, after 20 years, to see them as they are now, as opposed to who we knew them to be back then? If you met these people today for the first time, would they be your friends? What were the people who are your friends today like in high school? Would that have made a difference?

Lillian's friend Dawn seemed the most aware of these issues. She tells Lillian at one point that she spent a lot of time getting over high school and likes who she is today. Seeing Lillian and all the other people from high school brought her right back to those days and she didn't like it one bit. I can understand that emotion. I've never been a "high school was the greatest time of my life" type of person. Who on earth would want to go back to that time - the insecurity, the lack of confidence, the judgemental audience we were faced with on a daily basis? The boys you crushed on that never looked twice at you?

Eventually, Lillian realizes that you can't go back. You can't pick up where you left off with your high-school boyfriend. Maybe the reason you don't talk to a lot of people you went to high school with is because you now have nothing to say to each other. Can you talk to those people as the person you are today without reverting to high school roles and attitudes? Do you want to? Or do you just want to show them how much better you are now than you were then? Are you still trying to impress those people and get in with the "in-crowd"? Do you want them to turn to you and say "Wow! I'm sorry we didn't see how fabulous you were then!" Because, let's face it, that's not going to happen. Because they are dealing with exactly the same thing. No one feels confident and secure in high school. And we're all just trying to recover from the nightmares that high school put in all of us.

And maybe sometimes, there's a reason those people are part of your past. So you can move on and make a future for yourself. Without all that baggage.