Reacquaintances
The other day I was sitting in the waiting room of my physical therapist. For some reason I mixed up the time, and arrived about 45 minutes early. No biggie. There was a Car and Driver magazine on the table to keep me company. Then there was a baby crying, coming from one of the areas. Great. Not tool long afterward, a woman came out, carrying the baby in a bassinet/car seat thing. I figured it would be time for some silence. She then looked at me and said "I know you", to which I said, "You do?" "Yep, you're Phil. I used to live up the street from you." There was this vague familiarity, but I could not place a name to the face. She said her name is Myra. It was then a huge OMG moment with all the hugs and howareyas. The kicker is, I had not seen Myra since before high school. We were friends back then, since we had gone to elementary and middle school together and rode the same bus. Her family moved a short distance but that put her in a different high school.
I was completely floored that she recognized me. I said that I had less gray in the beard back then. And lots more hair. Well, okay, one was a lie. Still, I don't look very much like I did as a kid for the most part. Some folk do have that uncanny knack for faces and names, something that eludes me. As my brain dusted off and fired up some decades-old memory banks, I recognized her as well (despite the time that passed), and we had a good time talking. She is now a grandmother, living only a short distance from where I used to live. She had married a man that also went to the same schools as she did, he was the one who was at the place having therapy done for a really messed up hand and arm. We said our goodbyes and I had one of those incredulous grins that turn up in such circumstances which lasted me for the rest of the day.
Here was a perfect demonstration of "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Despite all the years, all the moving, etc, two people who have not seen each other in nearly 35 years will cross paths and will reconnect, even for an instant. Life is cool like that sometimes.
I was completely floored that she recognized me. I said that I had less gray in the beard back then. And lots more hair. Well, okay, one was a lie. Still, I don't look very much like I did as a kid for the most part. Some folk do have that uncanny knack for faces and names, something that eludes me. As my brain dusted off and fired up some decades-old memory banks, I recognized her as well (despite the time that passed), and we had a good time talking. She is now a grandmother, living only a short distance from where I used to live. She had married a man that also went to the same schools as she did, he was the one who was at the place having therapy done for a really messed up hand and arm. We said our goodbyes and I had one of those incredulous grins that turn up in such circumstances which lasted me for the rest of the day.
Here was a perfect demonstration of "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Despite all the years, all the moving, etc, two people who have not seen each other in nearly 35 years will cross paths and will reconnect, even for an instant. Life is cool like that sometimes.