Bernard Waber, btw, is also the author of Ira Sleeps Over, at the end of which, despite their desperate attempts to seem cool and grown-up, Ira and Reggie discover they both sleep with teddy bears. Ever have a moment like that with a friend? The closest I can remember was somehow becoming friends with one of the moderately cool girls, freshman year, and sleeping over at her place every other weekend. We got along well, but her other friends were a little spooky. I loved her cockatiel and her crazy Korean mom and swanky apartment, and she was not just popular but genuinely cool. I always felt not intimidated, but just a little bit awed by her and her mom, and her independence, and this oddly fascinating, neverending stream of strange, wealthy men that her mom dated. She called them all by their first name and sometimes babysat their kids. She was just too cool.

Then I found out that she wet the bed. Not that it was a competition, ever, but if it had been, this would have completely leveled the playing field. It's not like a teddy bear, something you can bond over (even if I had been a bed-wetter myself) but it does change the dynamic of your friendship just a little.

I miss my high school friends and wonder what became of everyone ... as we prep for the reunion more and more people come out of the woodwork and it's hard to believe that we ever functioned under the caste system of high school. Even though the 10-year mark makes me feel ancient I'm excited to see everyone.