How many years has it been?

I recently attended my ten year reunion.  I was eager to go, visions of 'Romi and Michelle's High School Reunion' flashed in my head (minus the insane dresses).  Growing up, I was filler, for a lack of better word.  All the 'popular' kids in high school happened to have sprouted from the 'smart class' of elementary school (plus or minus a few). I was one of the few minuses.  So, they all knew me, but I wasn't invited to their parties.  I had my own friends, most of which were in other grades above and below.  And I was a self-proclaimed yearbook dork.  Which didn't bother me.  Design, writing, theme development, and photography - I knew my calling long before I knew it had called me.

I guess I expected that in ten years, the cliques would have faded away, and the class levels dissolved.  But oddly, they hadn't.  I'm not saying anyone gave me a wedgie or anything, but familiar faces clustered around each other, leaving the rest of us to ourselves.  At first, I was disappointed.  But the next few days, I began to realize that maybe that's just how small towns are.  Only one person I am aware of came from another state.  The other out-of-staters stayed at home.  And it seems the farther away they all got, the more successful they are.  

Considering my two degrees, job I love, happy home, and new house, I consider myself fairly successful (but maybe not so much as the doctors and lawyers).

I am not quite sure where I am going with this, I guess I just had different expectations for the night.  Which makes me sad.  I was adamant to go with the intentions of flaunting my wonderful life, but when approached by a 'popular,' and we traded info, she still lives in the town we grew up in, has two kids, and stays at home.  I don't know if she went to college -if she did, it's not important enough to her to mention it. And oddly, she was really happy.  I think she even wanted me to be impressed. (For the record- I wasn't).  Instead, I was slightly saddened.  They just don't know any better.