I got together with my side of the family over the Christmas holidays and was fascinated when I saw my brother and my brother in law comparing notes on people they knew in high school (we all went to the same high school) and what became of them. I couldn’t remember most of my acquaintances from HS if you put a gun to my head. I may have the facial image of someone I knew 30 years ago but unless they were a close personal friend their names (and faces in many cases) are utterly forgotten.
I think you’re normal. Maybe your brother and BIL remember because they’ve thought about those people more often than you have. Recalling those names and faces is more important to them on some level, so their memories have been more active, easier to retrieve.
For some of my classmates (class of 1963), I can remember names (even middle names), faces, even birthdays. Others I don’t remember at all. Got news that one of them died a week ago, and I recognized the name but remembered nothing about her.
THIRTY YEARS LATER? I don’t remember acquaintances from HS and it hasn’t even been a decade yet. I don’t remember college acquaintances from two semesters ago. Former coworkers? Gone. I might get a vague “Hmm… they look familiar” feeling if I see them in the store or whatever, but I can’t recall details (or even names) off the top of my head. I looked at an old year book a couple years ago and, even seeing their FACES, I didn’t remember a lot of my graduating class (it wasn’t a big class, either; the whole town had fewer than 1500 people).
I still remember my best friend from kindergarten (her name was Elizabeth and we once had a field trip to her grandpa’s maple farm) and the friends I had all through school, so it’s not because I have a shoddy memory; they just… weren’t important.
I’m the same age as AuntiePam, HS class of '63. I can remember all of my friends and lots of details from those years, even back to grade school. I can name several of the kids in my kindergarten class picture.
A few years ago I ran into a friend from college, whom I hadn’t seen in 40 years. He didn’t remember me at all, so I started telling him about all our mutual friends and the things we did. He was amazed that I remembered so much, and admitted that he vaguely remembered some of it. I then reminded him that he and I actually had sex once, and I accurately described his penis. Needless to say, it was an “OMFG!!!” moment for him.
I’m like Silver Fire, that is, it’s been more than a decade since high school, but less than two, and I only remember my closest friends. Heck, I ran into an old colleague the other day, and couldn’t remember her name (I still can’t) and I only left that job three years ago.
I usually only remember close friend’s names. Sometimes I’ll think of someone and get a first name and face, sometimes just a face, but seldom will I get first and last name and face.
I recently came across a list of my HS class (reunion related) on the internet. Only about a half of the names meant anything to me and I had a clear memory of maybe a third. (Class of ~300)
It drives my wife crazy that I can remember many things from high school (30 years ago) like it was yesterday, but I have problems with things that happened yesterday as if it were actually 30 years ago. My memory is like swiss cheese.
I could probably rattle off at least two dozen people from my senior class (28 years later), even though I was close to none of them and pretty much did my own thing outside of school. Faces are still clear in many cases, names not so much (which is de rigeur for me in general).
I can’t recall more than a few people I went to high school with, but my DH seems to remember everyone.
When we moved to this neighborhood, one of my neighbors said he remembered me from HS and implied to me that we might have had a date or two in HS. I could not recall that and only vaguely remembered we had been in band together. I wasn’t too worried about not being able to remember him and thought the memory would return after a while, but it did not.
I thought that either the date was not a very memorable date and/or worried that my memory was mush worse than normal.
Now I think HS was just not a very interesting time for me.
I am like the OP. Heck, I couldn’t remember people’s names and faces after 10 years out of school so I opted not to attend any more reunions after that one, I’d only attended that HS for Junior and Senior year though so I didn’t have as long to learn people’s names and faces or form any strong bonds. Sometimes I can remember a name but not a face, sometimes I can see someone familiar and even place them as having gone to school with them but can’t remember a name. I remember the names of kids from grade school better because we went to school together longer however I rarely recognize them as adults because I can’t make that extrapolation from kid’s face to adult face.
I have a terrible time remembering names of people that I should know. Movie stars for example completely escape me…except Sandra Bullock. Sometimes I cannot remember the name of a good friend who I haven’t seen for a year or two. Kind of crazy, but that is just me. Spanish names are the worst ones for me to remember.
