I recently attended my 40th high school reunion. Yes, that's 4-0, as in four decades since . About 45 of the 102 in our graduating class showed up and what an incredible time we had!

I grew up in a small college town in northern New York - that's way northern, 30 miles from the St. Lawrence Seaway. We had winter eight months out of the year and spring, summer and fall the other four. The town looks like a Norman Rockwell painting and our youth had the makings for an Oscar Wilde play.

I had not seen some of my classmates for 40 years, yet it seems like yesterday that we trooped down State Street to Main Street for our football victory marches, went to ice cream socials in the town park (across from my house) and skated all winter on the grammar school field rink.

"Do try to avoid being the one giving out the name badges because nine out of 10 classmates will challenge you to remember who they are. I only got about 25 percent of them right."

I volunteered to make the name tags, which consisted of our high school yearbook pictures with our name and of course "CHS '66" (Canton High School class of 1966). As people trooped into the reception I racked my brain to put face and badge together and believe me, it wasn't easy. Some of my classmates looked pretty much the same with a few extra pounds, some wrinkles and grey hair. Others blew me away. They were all grown up and growing old. Where had the time gone?

The nicest thing about the weekend is that we all picked up just where we left off. To me, that's the test of true friendship. And it was glorious!

I've prepared a list of do's and don'ts for my next reunion. When it's time to meet up with old high school or college pals, you'll really want to keep the following in mind.

• Do make name badges with large print for the names. Remember, the eyes are the first to go and that happens in our early 40s.

• Do try to avoid being the one giving out the name badges because nine out of 10 classmates will challenge you to remember who they are. I only got about 25 percent of them right.

• Don't trust your memory. If you're like me, you can't remember what you had for breakfast yesterday, let alone someone you haven't seen for 40 years. When you take pictures, zoom in on the name tags.

• Do wear comfortable shoes, especially if there's a walking tour of the high school planned. Forget about being fashionable; everyone else will be in ugly old-people shoes so you'll fit right in.

• Do dig out your old yearbook before you go and read through it a few times.

• Remember, in the immortal words of Maxine, few women admit their age and few men act it.

• Don't giggle too much. You may have a classmate, like I did, who spent half her school years peeing her pants from laughing too much, and the other half waiting for her clothes to dry. Thank god for Depends. It's not so cute now that we are pushing 60.

• Do try to do many things together that you did when you were young. Some of us went to church together on Sunday and that brought back a flood of memories. When we were young the public school used to let the Catholic kids out early every Wednesday for CCD (Catechism). At least once a year the missionary nuns would come to speak and all of us trooped into St. Mary's Church to listen to them discuss their work in third world countries. It seems as though each year when they asked, "Who feels called to give their life to God and help the poor?," I would raise my hand. Yeah, that didn't happen.

• Do bring pictures of children and grandchildren; everyone else will. It's only fair to make them offer up the same obligatory oohs and ahhs that you so kindly provided during their little show and tell.

• Don't worry about wearing elastic waist pants; you'll have lots of company.

• Don't forget that what you wrote in someone's yearbook will come back to haunt you many years later. Such is the case of my friend Barb, a tiny bundle of enthusiasm and a popular cheerleader way back when who wrote in one person's yearbook, "I don't know who you are, but good luck anyway." The recipient of her message is now a well-traveled, multi-lingual wine connoisseur who didn't fail to make mention of the slight, even 40 years later.


Ann, that elastic-waist-band wearing diva we all know and love, can be contacted through e-mail at ann@insidescv.com.