🎓 High School Reunion

AI Generated

🕰️ Looking Back, But Not Going Back
It’s been 50 years since I was supposed to graduate high school.

I say “supposed to” because, well… I didn’t. I failed Grade 10, then quit in Grade 11. So technically, the class of 1975 wasn’t even mine. My 50-year reunion should’ve been last year—but honestly, whether it’s been 50 or 51 years doesn’t matter much. Either way, I didn’t go.

Yes, I got an invitation. The woman organizing it lived next door to my parents for 30 years and remembered that we went to school together. I appreciated the gesture—I really did—but I said no.

Not because I’m angry. Not even because I didn’t graduate. I just… didn’t feel like going.

🧩 Figuring Myself Out
The truth is, I’ve never been much of a social butterfly. I like staying behind the scenes. I’m more comfortable using my hands than my voice, and these days, I use writing to say what I really mean. It took me a long time to accept that. For years, I tried to be the one in charge—the party planner, the life of the event. I thought if I could just be that person, I’d finally feel like I belonged.

But here’s the thing I’ve learned: wanting to be a certain way doesn’t always make it so. And that’s okay. We’re all built a little differently, and life gets a lot easier when we stop fighting who we are and start leaning into it.

👧 A Quiet Teen with a Loud Inner Voice
When I look back at teenage me, I see a shy girl. Quiet. Always just outside the edges of the group. I drank with the best of them—mostly because it made it easier to talk. Easier to laugh. Easier to pretend I wasn’t nervous. Even now, I’m more comfortable listening than being the center of attention. That hasn’t really changed.

I used to think the popular crowd had it all figured out. They were prettier, louder, smoother. They just knew how to talk, how to move through a room like they owned it. Meanwhile, I stayed in the background, trying not to trip over my own words.

🤝 Finding My People
But life has a funny way of bringing the right people into your corner. I found my crowd. And somewhere along the way, I realized something important: the people who stuck around? They didn’t like me because I was fun at parties. They liked me because I was me—Wanda Rose Chappell, their friend.

🎬 Sally Field Had a Point
That moment reminded me of Sally Field’s Oscar speech back in 1985—the one people always misquote. What she actually said was:

“I haven’t had an orthodox career, and I’ve wanted more than anything to have your respect... This time I feel it, and I can’t deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me!”

I get it now. It’s not about being the loudest in the room or the funniest or the prettiest. It’s about being real. And it turns out, people like that.

📝 Writing as My Voice
These days, I don’t need a drink to start a conversation. I still might write the story instead of telling it out loud like my brother would, but I show up as myself—and that’s enough.

So if there’s anyone out there reading this who feels like they have to change to fit in, or who leans on a little “liquid courage” to feel seen... just know: the right people will like you as you are. And if they don’t? Well, that’s not your crowd.

You don’t need to be louder. You don’t need to be different. You just need to be you.

Pull up a chair. I’ve got a story.

💬 Wanda-ism:
“Being real might not win you a crowd, but it’ll sure win you peace.”