Reality Bites by James Norton for the week of Dec. 6

“That’s what friends are for”
 

Assuming you made it past the title of my column, I have to start right off by explaining that I‚Äôm not writing a puff piece extolling the virtues of being a good friend and other such blather.  The title specifically refers to the name of the #1 song of 1986 according to Billboard Magazine.
  Needless to say 1986 wasn‚Äôt a watershed year in pop music.

  Other auditory assaults from that year include (but are not limited to):  ‚ÄúWalk Like an Egyptian,‚Äù ‚ÄúConga,‚Äù ‚ÄúDancing on the Ceiling‚Äù and Wang Chung‚Äôs masterpiece ‚ÄúEverybody Have Fun Tonight.‚Äù  That last sentence was probably the most damaging single sentence I have ever penned – flashbacks and post-traumatic episodes aside.
  Getting to the meat of my column this week leads me to the Somerville High School Class of 1986 20th Reunion, which was on November 25th at the Somerville City Club. 
  I had originally waffled about going at all, but I had hoped to see some old friends mainly from a large group that hung around Woodbine Street for a number of years until the early 90‚Äôs.  The big problem about that is the large group wasn‚Äôt comprised solely of people in our class, and that‚Äôs where a little legwork from an old friend came in handy.
  A few months ago my good friend Mike Berry called me out of the clear blue.  We had been estranged as friends since the mid-90‚Äôs over an unfortunate situation which at the time was important to each of us, but looking back on it all now, seems inconsequential.  Mike and I were pretty close for years – I was the Best Man at his wedding and he is the Godfather to my firstborn – so being able to put the bad stuff behind us and gather a group of our old friends together is just what I needed in this very stressful and physically draining of years.
  It may seem crappy for me to say that before the reunion, I didn‚Äôt care all that much whether I saw anyone I went to school with – that the priority for me was to see my friends from Woodbine Street. I got the impression from a bunch of the guys that I was not alone in that regard.  In the end I was happy I went to the reunion, and although I couldn‚Äôt stay very long for personal reasons, the best part about going there even for a short time was being able to get email addresses and phone numbers and being able to keep in touch more often than not now.
  Having the typical every five or ten year reunion is great, but based on our interactions just in the last two weeks through emails since the event, I think that as a ‚Äúclass‚Äù we will be able to keep in better touch with each other in the future.  That‚Äôs a very good thing.
  I am sure that I can speak for a lot of the people who were at the reunion when I say thank you to Amanda and Sandra DaSilva for putting it all together – they did an amazing job.
  The 80‚Äôs were a weird time culturally and it‚Äôs nice to look back and have fond memories of people, places and events that happened.  Even if the music sucked.