Sounds glamorous, doesn't it? That's the title I received when I married my distinguished husband 3 years ago.
First off, let me tell you what a Big Man on Campus Aaron was back in the glory days of high school (oh, how he'll hate that I am writing this). Out of the 350-ish students in his class, he was chosen to be not only the Class President, but also the Homecoming King AND Mr. Grizz (you'll have to ask him about that one). To put this in perspective, out of the 11 students in my class, I was neither the Senior Class President, nor the Homecoming Queen NOR the Prom Queen. Obviously, I married up in the popularity standings of society.
However, when I was gushing over his obvious late-1990's popularity, he claimed that he wasn't popular, he was liked. This distinction was confusing to me, but I guess if you've ever watched a movie about high school, it makes sense. For instance, the mean girls on "Mean Girls" were popular, but not liked. He was a "Nice Guy". Aaron could be a case study for Type A personalities. When 9 years had passed since high school graduation, he rounded up a crew of former classmates, and began planning. Monthly meetings were scheduled, and as the event neared, the planning intensity picked up. Not one detail was overlooked. His color-coded expense-tracking spreadsheet was accurate to the penny. Suddenly, it become difficult for us to carry a conversation that didn't turn into a discussion about nametags, music or beer. It was like being married to a bride planning her wedding.
At the reunion, it was entertaining to be an outsider just observing people. I looked around and thought to myself, "She looks like she's been preparing for this weekend for the past 2 months", "That must be the Playboy Bunny", and "That has to be the guy that keeps calling Aaron." Even 10 years later, it was fairly easy to identify the jocks, the cheerleaders, and the members of the Math Club.
The downside to my role of First Lady is that I realized I was a nuisance. My event planner husband was on a mission to talk to each and every one of his classmates in attendance, and having a puppy dog, er, wife at his heals was slowing him down in his quest. I spotted fellow reunion-planner spouses at a table, and made myself at home. We quickly bonded, and decided that we, too, would plan reunions: Spouse Reunions. The 15-year Spouse Reunion will be held concurrently with the NWHS Class of '99 Reunion, but the planning will be much less stressful. The reunion is over, so I get my husband back now.
Unfortunately, while weddings are a once-in-a-lifetime event, reunions happen every 5 or 10 years, so there will be many more to come. Perhaps he should get advice from Elizabeth Taylor -- she's been married 8 times.
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