Thursday, July 06, 2006
Blog Party VIII: The Returns...
A blog party's where a bunch of fellow bloggers who frequent MCF's blog all do a post on the same day on the same topic. This party's topic, What are the best things in your life that have returned?
I could wax about movie remakes or think about finding items I had lost. But frankly none of the remakes of the last decade have lit me on fire and stuff is just that. There is one return that has happened in the last couple of years that was really meaningful to me though.
So okay, I flash back to 8th grade home room. I've just moved to Manteo, NC from Arkansas. I've always been a geek, an outsider (shock and horror) and now on top of that I was the new kid. I was desperate to find a friend. Enter one John aka Bear. Now to be honest, it's been more than a few years since then so the details are fuzzy. One (probably both) of us was doodling axes, swords, and other medieval paraphenalia. This sparked a discussion of D&D (which we both played) and from that blossomed a friendship that has lasted over twenty years (WOW).
We lost touch more than once along the way. College, moving around post college, and life all seemed to conspire to separate us. Or one touchstone was his cousin, a rock in more than one sense of the word. We finally caught back up in April of last year and that has been a source of great joy to me. Getting to see pictures of his wife and son and hear their story is indeed a great benefit of that return.
So all of this to say, use the 'net to find your old friends. If you're like me (and I'm far from unique) you haven't kept in touch with that buddy you had in elementary school. I found a couple of those guys recently and while we haven't spoken much since then it was good to know that they're alive and well. Maybe you have some family that you haven't seen or heard from in years. Go call them. Now. I'll wait...
Now don't you feel better? I'll close this with a request I've made from time to time in hopes that he'll find me. If your name is Bill Hatcher (not the nature photographer) and you attended Manteo High School in the late 80's email me!!! ¶
8:27 AM
A blog party's where a bunch of fellow bloggers who frequent MCF's blog all do a post on the same day on the same topic. This party's topic, What are the best things in your life that have returned? I could wax about movie remakes or think about finding items I had lost. But frankly none of the remakes of the last decade have lit me on fire and stuff is just that. There is one return that has happened in the last couple of years that was really meaningful to me though.
So okay, I flash back to 8th grade home room. I've just moved to Manteo, NC from Arkansas. I've always been a geek, an outsider (shock and horror) and now on top of that I was the new kid. I was desperate to find a friend. Enter one John aka Bear. Now to be honest, it's been more than a few years since then so the details are fuzzy. One (probably both) of us was doodling axes, swords, and other medieval paraphenalia. This sparked a discussion of D&D (which we both played) and from that blossomed a friendship that has lasted over twenty years (WOW).
We lost touch more than once along the way. College, moving around post college, and life all seemed to conspire to separate us. Or one touchstone was his cousin, a rock in more than one sense of the word. We finally caught back up in April of last year and that has been a source of great joy to me. Getting to see pictures of his wife and son and hear their story is indeed a great benefit of that return.
So all of this to say, use the 'net to find your old friends. If you're like me (and I'm far from unique) you haven't kept in touch with that buddy you had in elementary school. I found a couple of those guys recently and while we haven't spoken much since then it was good to know that they're alive and well. Maybe you have some family that you haven't seen or heard from in years. Go call them. Now. I'll wait...
Now don't you feel better? I'll close this with a request I've made from time to time in hopes that he'll find me. If your name is Bill Hatcher (not the nature photographer) and you attended Manteo High School in the late 80's email me!!! ¶
8:27 AM
Comments:
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I've seen those websites (like this one) where you can search for e-mail addresses and the like of people you went to school with, etc. Thing is, you have to pay to join the service and they have to be a part of the service as well to get any info.
Now and then I'll get to wondering what ever became of so-and-so and I'll Google 'em. I actually tracked down an old co-worker from my days in radio that way about a year ago. I sent him an e-mail at the station where he works now just to say hi... and, to my surprise, he sent back a really positive, friendly response! We had a brief exchange of one or two e-mails and left it at that. Anyway, it was nice just to be able to reach across the miles and the years and reconnect for a second. Nothing life-changing, just a brief respite in our otherwise hectic lives. Things like that remind me that the internet does have some redeeming qualities. It's nice to see that the internet does have the potential to be something other than some kind of giant porno PEZ dispenser.
Now and then I'll get to wondering what ever became of so-and-so and I'll Google 'em. I actually tracked down an old co-worker from my days in radio that way about a year ago. I sent him an e-mail at the station where he works now just to say hi... and, to my surprise, he sent back a really positive, friendly response! We had a brief exchange of one or two e-mails and left it at that. Anyway, it was nice just to be able to reach across the miles and the years and reconnect for a second. Nothing life-changing, just a brief respite in our otherwise hectic lives. Things like that remind me that the internet does have some redeeming qualities. It's nice to see that the internet does have the potential to be something other than some kind of giant porno PEZ dispenser.
That's how it was with my elementary school chums. Just a "Hey glad to know you survived high school!" kind of thing.
How cool would it be if one of my parties reunited old chums? Cool idea. Cool entry. Reminds me of the staunch friendships I forged when I found people in college who shared my geeky interests.
very nice posting, in all sorts of ways. (i love the way you took your personal experience and made it universal. that's always a goal of mine, but not always achieved.) and it struck a chord for me becuz i'm lately contemplating the incomparable value of long-term friendships - how they're formed, when they're formed, why some last and some do not.
# posted by 
: 7/10/2006 12:02 PM
: 7/10/2006 12:02 PM
Thanks. I know how hard it is to form those these days and the funny thing is most of the people who I get along with best/communicate with the most are in other states. Tech has had some funny side effects on the concept of friendship.
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