It
just dawned on me last week that I'm heading off to my 15th Harvard
Business School reunion this coming weekend. I've been so focused on
work and end-of-year school activities that it kinda snuck up on me.
So I had two choices: panic or just make do. I simply don't have enough energy to panic, so I'm making do.
There's the 10 pounds (Ok, maybe it's a bit more) that I should have lost, but realistically, I've got less than a week, so why stress about it? I am what I am, and there's lots of me to love!
I am going through the pre-requisites and got a hair cut (I was overdo any way since it's been 2+ months since my last cut). I have ambitions of getting a brow wax and pedicure before I fly out Wednesday night, but time is getting short.
On the clothing front, I broke down and hit the half-yearly Nordstrom sale today and got a few things, but they are mostly for work, not really appropriate for reunion cocktail parties and galas. I'm going through my closet to find the things I'm most in love with -- and that will requires as little ironing as possible once I hit the ground in Boston.
In all, I'm feeling a bit guilty that I don't have much reunion angst at all -- shouldn't I be stressing a bit more, that I'm going to be seeing these friends/colleagues/potential business partners that I haven't seen in years? But in reality, I'm quite proud that I'm being so blase about it all.
The reason why: I worked at the HBS reunions for three years when I was an undergrad in college. My least favorite reunion class to work with was the 15th year reunion because these alumni were just starting to become VPs, CEOs, and power mongers in their industries -- and were all too eager to make sure their classmates knew how much they had achieved. My favorite classes to work with were the 40+ year reunion classes -- they were thankful just to be alive and seeing their old friends.
in that vein, the thing I'm looking most forward to this reunion is seeing a dear friend who now lives in London. We had our first child within a week of each other, but then have drifted apart because of distance. Hopefully, we'll have a few precious moments to escape and catch up.
So for me, that's going to be what's important about this reunion -- not that I look great or impress the hell out of my classmates with my career achievements, but that I leave at the end of weekend reconnected with people with whom I shared a precious part of my life.
(But it sure would be nice if I could juuuust squeeze in that last minute pedicure!)
Originally posted on Silicon Valley Moms Blog.
