Ever had a Blast from the Past?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m always seeing people that I think may be from my past, but I’m never quite sure, except on two occassions.

I’m pretty sure that my old boyfriend from 20 years ago has moved into town. I first saw him in Wal-mart. He looked exactly like he did back then with a few extra lines on his face. He was with a woman and a bunch of rowdy young’uns. I’ve caught glimpses of him several times since then, he’s real tall and has an unusual haircolor so he’s not hard to miss. I’ve thought about saying something to him if I ever get the chance, but considering the last time we saw eachother he was laughing at me because I had failed to make my mom’s iron fly far enough across the room to make contact with his head, maybe I’ll keep my identity a secret.

The second one is Twilight Zone material…
My husband and I went out to eat with my sister and her family. Sis told me she had seen one of her high school friends. I told her there wasn’t anyone from MY high school days I would want to see. Then I thought of somebody… I’ll call her “Gina”, we had been friends since 6th grade, but kind of drifted apart in high school. She was very pretty and hung around with the a rough crowd, usually because she was dating one of them. I was real quiet and didn’t hang around with anybody. But she was always nice to me when we saw eachother.
The next day after having dinner with my sister, we took my son to Chattanooga for the day. It’s about 3 hours from where I live now, and the same distance in the other direction from where I went to high school. We were standing in line to get our tickets for the Tenn. Aquarium, and there was “Gina” about 5 people in front of me! It had been almost 20 years since I’d seen her. She turned around and glanced at me, but didn’t recognize me. (I was a homely little thing in high school) :slight_smile: She had the remains of a black eye and bruises all over her arms,and the guy she was with looked like the middle aged version of the guys she had dated in school.
She must’ve thought I looked familiar because when we got our ticket and went inside, I turned around and they were standing right there! They should’ve been way ahead. I was getting ready to say something, but she was looking at my husband and son with such hostility, it creeped me out. She never did look at me, then her husband pulled her away. The rest of the day I kept expecting to see her pop out of the bushes. I’m sorry her life didn’t improve but damn!

2

The only weird blast from my past happened about 17 years ago. I had broken up with a boyfriend, and a girl I worked with said, “Let’s get you out on the town to meet someone new.” At the time I was 22, and had recently moved to an area about 45 miles from my hometown.

So the girlfriend and I were out clubbing, and we got to talking about old loves. I started talking about this guy Rob I had dated in my old hometown when I was 17, and how I always thought he was the love of my life, and I wondered what ever happened to him? About ten minutes later, I was at the bar with this friend, ordering another drink, when a guy standing next to me said my name. I looked, then turned to my friend and said, “Cathy, this is Rob.”

He had moved to the town where I was then living about two months before I did. We actually revisited our relationship for a short time, but it didn’t work out, although we parted this time on friendly terms. About a week after that, I met the man who would become my husband.

3

Oh, how wierd… I don’t have any. Not really. Although one time I was with my dad in Target, shopping for the Renaissance Festival, and we ran into one of his old girlfriends from high school (1980-ish) and we ended up staying at their place for a few days while we (and them) went to the Ren. Fest. Turns out they were really into it, too! We all went in costume. Mom took it really well! :slight_smile:

4

The first boy I ever kissed when I was 14 at summer camp used to write me letters. He was depressed, he drank too much, he was a raving Republican, and he was for some reason madly in love with me. Finally I told him if he didn’t get his life straightened out, I couldn’t talk to him anymore.

Silence. For five years.

Then, one fine day, a letter arrives at my parents’ house. My friend was writing to tell me that he had, in fact, gotten his act together. He stopped drinking, converted to Islam (!), and was growing his hair in protest until George Bush Sr. was voted out of office. Imagine my shock. We actually hung out a few times after that and were able to be friends again. I was happy that he had been able to turn his life around.

It was very weird, though, I have to admit that.

5

Yep, and delightfully so. Pull up a comfy chair and mix a tasty drink; this will take a while.

Back in high school I took part in a speech and essay contest run by the Oddfellows & Rebekahs Lodge concerning the United Nations. Six students, each representing a different high school, competed at a central location in a district that covered three counties. I came in second to a girl. The prize for winning was a monthlong bus trip with a week in New York at the UN (and a route that included Philadelphia, Washington, DC., New England and eastern Canada). That particular year, our district had an allocation for the runner-up to take part as well.

So, at 17, in the summer between our junior and senior year, we made this trip of a lifetime, with 40 other winners from five western states. A profound influence on my life, and we felt very much like a family, even staging a reunion for many of us a year later, right after high school graduation.

Time moved on, and we all drifted apart. I got married, had kids, etc. Ran into the girl who came in first twenty years later, when we were both invited to speak at the comepetition for that year’s candidates. Enjoyed talking with each other, but that was it.

Fast forward another nine years. Out of the blue one day, the girl who came in first called me with a question about one of the other people on the trip. That crystalized a desire in me to find out what had happened in the lives of the people who had been so close way back then. Over the next several months, I tracked down all but 10 of the kids on the trip, got them to write little summaries of their life since age 17, and had a booklet professionally printed, in time to mail them out to everyone for the 30th anniversary of the trip.

Shortly thereafter, I was able to organize a reunion of ten of the people from the trip and we had a fabulous time.

Two weeks later, my wife of 24 years died. She suffered from a rare, fast-acting dementing illness, and all the activity surrounding my research in tracking these people down was a badly-needed outlet for my frustrations and feelings surrounding her illness.

My newly-redisovered old friends were magnificent when they heard of my wife’s passing. Though most of us hadn’t seen each other in 30 years, they were incredibly comforting and invited me to many outings in the nearby large city.

As time went on, I found myself spending – by choice – more and more time visiting the girl who came in first. Eventually, my thoughts turned to romance. Though we had become best friends, she initially wanted nothing to do with that, having just left a bad marriage.

But with time and persistence, she came around, secure in my assurances that I did, indeed, know how to be a good husband. We’ve been married for four and a half years now, and it’s fabulous.

I am so incredibly glad that she made that phone call to me that one afternoon with a casual question. Certainly when she did so, neither one of us would have guessed what it would lead to…

6

I’d just gotten married and my husband and I were taking a walk up to the store. A guy and a beautiful little boy are walking from the opposite direction. The guy is just filthy, jeans and shirt streaked with dirt. His face is dirty, except around his eyes, giving him a raccoon look. I thought to myself, eww, I hope he doesn’t ask us for money.

We pass each other and then I hear him call my name, the shortened version that I was called as a kid. It is my ex-boyfriend, the one I agonized over, the heartbreak, the misery (you know how it is when you’re only 15).

It was fun explaining that one to my new husband. Thankfully he has a sense of humor and uses soap.

7

Hometownboy That was a wonderful story.