My goal is to get all caught up on travel posts before my big summer vacation. It is a rather lofty goal, mind you, because I still have to tell you about Hawaii and Victoria, B.C. at the very least. Plus, I still have outfit posts coming up and YouTube videos to film and edit.  And life is about to get busier because May is always insane, and my June is off the charts busy. Still, my goal is to get caught up with y'all very soon.

We have two more posts after this one from my high school reunion trip to Georgia-lina in September. I visited with my sister in Savannah before driving up to see my friends.  I've already talked about the fun at Homecoming, the Meat N Greet Picnic, and the actual Reunion Party.  Today's post takes you through our Sunday afternoon picture day activities when a small group of us took photos out at the school, after which I went around town to look at my old houses, former schools, and visit my (dead) dad.  It was an emotional day, but another one I am really grateful for.


For Picture Day, the reunion planners appointed a drone photographer to meet us out at our high school to take photos of the group on the football field.  We also went up to the school auditorium to take a few photos as well.  The school itself has been added onto and remodeled, so they have actually torn down most of what was our main school building at this point in time.  It was nice to get some photos in before that happened.

And let me just say, we were on that football field midday and it was HOT.  The sun was relentlessly beating down.  I am no longer accustomed to this heat or humidity, so I was sweating buckets.  There is the added issue that, without my thyroid, my body can't regulate temperature as well.  For instance, my normal body temp is not 98 degrees, but rather 94.7.  Whether temps around me or too hot or too cold, it can all greatly affect me.  But because I am over-medicated to keep my thyroid cells from working (to ensure that my thyroid cancer doesn't come back), my body just does not do well with extreme temperatures.  For me, being too hot makes me cranky and claustrophobic and makes my anxiety worse.  But we were all sweating, and I had my friends beside me, so I sucked it up and just had fun.

The photographer arranged us in the numbers 9 and 8, the year we graduated, and put together some great photos with his footage.  And bless his photoshop skills because I knew I was a sweaty mess. I am usually not in the sun long enough to get burnt, but my chest got burnt at the Indy Car races a month before this.  And ever since, my chest gets red and blotchy every time I get overheated or nervous now.  Which is a lot.

After photos, I had to say goodbye to my friend Jennifer, which was tearful and hard for me.  Since I've been home, we have been keeping in touch via the Marco Polo app and started our own personal book club.  Reconnecting with her more and getting to know more of who she is today has been such a gift.  Since I was going to my friend Brandon's gig that same night, I thankfully did not have to say goodbye to him yet.

Leaving the high school, Sean and I drove to my old middle school, swung by my favorite of the umpteen houses I lived in, and headed back to Augusta to visit my dad's grave.  Even though I didn't have the best relationship with my dad, I make sure to visit him and have a chat when I am in town. It is always emotional and difficult, but I handle it a lot better now than I have in past years.  The cemetery he is in is very peaceful and beautiful (and much cooler temperature-wise), so it is nice to just sit next to him and have some quiet moments.

Everybody grabbed hands so we could make our number formation!

Nothing wrong with looking straight up into the sun, right?

Sean made a gif of our wave!

Then we had to lay down in the sun, y'all!

Roger surprised Brandon with his own joke.  It was funny, trust!

Then it was off to visit my dad at the cemetery.  I sat down and chatted with him while Sean looked around and took photos.  Then Sean joined me and I decided to do some tearful InstaStories about my memory of the first time Sean visited this cemetery with me.  We were in town for my sister's wedding in 2007, and I wanted Sean to "meet" my dad.  We went out to the cemetery and I introduced them to each other.  Sean was so cool about it.  He told my dad that he loved me and he was always going to protect me and take care of me.  It is one of the sweetest, most romantic, heartfelt things I can recall.  It meant so much to me.  After I shared, we just sat there in the shade, feeling the cool breeze, hearing the birds chirp overheard and the ducks quack in the distance.

I always say hi to the ducks when I visit my dad.