Reconnecting with High School Pals

Recently I met up with some pals from high school—ECR (El Camino Real) H.S. Something we started doing after the summer of 2009. Nothing rigid, but, those who can gather can, if their schedule permits.

One friend commented, after a gathering, that we haven’t changed. It’s hard to believe we haven’t changed.

My first year in high school was not my best. The streets that determined which high school I would attend were one house away to the North (Chatsworth H.S.) and three blocks East (Canoga Park H.S.). I would have chosen the latter, if given a choice.

As kids we didn’t realize that our parents chose to buy a house in a specific neighborhood based on the schools their children would attend. All I knew was that my close friends all went to a different high school.

I was scared and lonely. I didn’t hang out with the girls in the neighborhood. By junior high we had found different friends; high school divided us even further. We didn’t say more than, “Hi,” to each other.

Where our house was located, we had a bus pick us up and drop of us off at ECR. The bus picked me up at the corner of Jason and Jonathan. The route started at Woodlake and Jonathan and moved along Sadring Ave. going South, with the final stop at the top of Platt (at Candlewood Way).

The bus was crowded in the mornings. But in the afternoon, there were only a handful of us going home. Most of these people became my high school pals. I suspect the lack of not having a driver’s license had an influence, but we enjoyed each other’s company. We would spend our nutrition and lunch breaks together.

Looking at photo albums of us then, there seemed to be a recurring theme. There were two of us (me and another girlfriend), known as the loud ones, with the rest being very quiet. When I say very quiet, they were painfully quiet and shy. So, compared to the others, we were the loud.

After high school, as each year passed by, we went our separate ways. We would get together during the holidays or during the summer. After college, we all spread out over the state of California.

Although some of us today live in the same area, we have our own circle of friends. We also have different political and religious beliefs. We have changed. Yet what ties us together is our shared youth. For the time we are together now, I am reminded of a time when our world, though small, was a happy time. I feel blessed I found these friends and we’ve reconnected.