Cool. Me? Uh huh!

During my senior year of high school, my best guy friends decided to start a band. I didn't know anything about their plans until they all sat down with me and asked me to be the lead singer.

I was shocked, nervous and excited all at once!

There was also another band - a group of guys in our high school class that I'll call the "cool kids" - that performed regularly at parties and social events. Our little band didn't have the repertoire or the experience that these other guys did.

I remember auditions for our senior talent show. The cool kids were teasing me about singing, teasing us about the one song that we knew. I also remember the looks on their faces when we rejoined them in the gym bleachers after our audition.

They were pretty shocked too. Heh. They didn't tease us anymore after that day.

We went on to perform at festivals and parties too. Sure, we didn't have the following of the cool kids, but we did have a small fan base. It was my first experience at singing and performing live. That experience lead me to many other bands and gigs after high school and up until I was pregnant with my first child.

***

Fast forward 23 years....

We're having a high school reunion in the next few months. There has been talk of a reunion of the cool kids - that band who were so popular and played together all through high school. Each member of that group has continued to pursue music in some way.

I'm dabbling on Facebook last night and an instant message pops up from the drummer of the cool kids.

"Hey, T. Wow. Has it really been 23 years?!"

Yep, definitely. We had lots to catch up on.

"We're pulling the old group together for the reunion. Did you hear? We were wondering if you'd be interested in singing a few with us?"

After I picked my jaw up from my desk, I very happily agreed.

Inside, the high school version of me danced around singing, "They like me! They REALLY like me!"

***

That's the funny thing about high school. You think you know who you are. You think the cool kids are cooler than you. You think no one likes you. You think... all sorts of things.

But in the end, with time, you find that you have a shared history with those fellow students. They all thought the same as you! None of us knew who we were. And somewhere our shared history becomes a pretty big commonality.

I've also learned that acceptance - even 20 something years later - is HUGE!

***

Any suggestions on the songs we should perform? What are your favorite 80's songs?

Here are a few we did back in the day: