Peter

I have been busy lately. My high school class's last reunion was not well-attended and I have been trying to find lost classmates using google search, Facebook, LinkedIn, and word of mouth. A recent search on google found several classmates and I tested the findings by sending letters to several people with hopes of receiving information from them in return. So far, I have received one letter.

The letter was from one of my classmates with whom I hadn't been well-acquainted and when I realized that he lives in the same town as me, I was appalled that I didn't know. He wrote a 4 page letter and told me what he has done over the last 40 years, a chronicle of names, jobs, dates. It was pleasantly written and well-organized. He is not in good health and I immediately felt compassion for this lonely, retired classmate. I remembered him as he was in school, a person who broke into our class in junior high, who had moved to our town as a young teenager from the Boston area. I believe he had a hard time fitting in to our small high school. He was not exceptionally attractive, not a fabulous student, and I don't think he had many good friends.

But it was wonderful to make contact with someone from the past. As sick as he is, he had taken a lot of time to write and explain his life to me. I felt it was my duty to honor that and to call him to wish him well and to thank him for being the one person out of ten to let me know that he was glad to be found. I called, we chatted, and he seemed happy to know that someone cared. We talked for an hour about our lives and how we were both happy to still be hanging in there.

I will keep him in mind, perhaps try to visit, and enjoy the memories.