'89 Graduates: Swallow your pride, clear your schedule and reunite for our 20th!

But there is a surprising number of thirty-somethings who insist on missing this incredible chance to face - and laugh at - the past.

The list of excuses for avoiding the reunion, class of 1989 edition:

1. I am not rich yet. Or, my job is not high-powered enough...When will you be successful enough to face everyone? In 2039, at our 50th reunion? Please don't wait that long, life is too short to miss a chance to connect.

2. (Please fill in your personal disappointment here) Me, I'm 38, divorced (some of us more than once or twice), had a kid, bought a few house's, love airplanes, have a new obsession with designing websites etc. ...You have been doing something during these past 20 years. Come and tell everyone about it.

3. I'm too fat/going bald/have an embarrassing skin condition...You aren't alone. Not a good excuse. Pull on your Spanx, comb it over, slather on the cocoa butter, and forget about it for the night.  I promise, we will have the lights dimmed!!!!

4. I hated everyone from high school...Everyone? Not one single person you can remember with fondness? Check your e-mail contacts list, I bet there is at least one faithful high school pal there. Message them and see if they are going. Ask if they would like to see you there.

5. Everyone from high school hated me. Or, I haven't been in touch in 20 years, so if they didn't hate me then, they hate me now...And ignoring this problem will make it go away? Time to make amends. Show up at your reunion, make peace, and enjoy a special bonus - you won't spend the next 20 years being hated. Besides, who cares??  We are ALL adults, well some of us.  :)

6. I can't remember anyone's name...That's why God invented name tags and an OPEN BAR!!!!

7. I'm afraid to see the one who broke my heart/whose heart I broke. Or, I'm afraid I won't see them...Suck it up, they probably don't remember you anyway.

8. I don't want my spouse to know what a loser I was in high school....They already know. They love you anyway.

9. I hate '80s music. I refuse to go anywhere where I might be trapped in a room listening to Duran Duran or Frankie Goes to Hollywood...We aren't going to hire a sadistic DJ, he is actually nice, helpful, we can make requests AND best of all...it's someone we all know! 

10. I can't go because I (or someone very close to me) is having a baby, living more than 3,000 miles away...Okay, in those very special cases, you get a free get-out-of-reunion card, and we wish you well.