School Memories

Recently I’ve found a really odd way to amuse myself …

A memory stroll with long, lost and forgotten friends.

You see,

I went to Classmates.com,

Registered with my alias,

And checked out to see if anyone who I recognized from the elementary schools, middle school and high school I attended when I lived in Tennessee were listed (I actually didn’t attend high school there, but checked out the graduating class for my year).

What a really weird feeling for me … to see so many names I remembered and the assortment of memories associated with them.

As we know, I love feeling a part of my world,

And lately I’m not feeling too much a part of my world.

So as I went through the lists of names,

I felt familiar again,

As I recognized so many names.

Gawd it felt good.

Anyways, here’s a bunch of one liner Amy-trivia from my youth …

Tamara … The first girl I’ve ever kissed. We kissed in a tool shed.

Barry … My first friend to smoke and the first person in my life to whom I said, no thanks, I don’t smoke. Wow, just like it would be in so many ways during the rest of my life, even though I’d hang out with people that smoked, it was never a big deal to anyone that I didn’t.

Jeff … He was always the team captain, and always picked me early in the draft.

Rick … He was one of my best friends, I really missed him and his brother when I moved away. I hope things are good for you.

Melanie … Ah yes, boy did I ever have a crush on you in 5th grade.

The Other Melanie … A totally kewl chick, taught me that girls could be good and fun friends. And you always wanted her on your kickball team.

The Other Other Melanie … I used to talk to God about her a lot (when God and I were still talking.)

Editor’s Note: Now you know why, even though I really like the name Melanie, I just didn’t feel right going with it. πŸ™‚

Mike … My first best friend. We used to build the kewlest toy boats and float them in the creek.

Beth … Gawd, the first girl I “went with”.

Kevin … Everyone was in love with his sister.

Mark and Mark … The first wasn’t that good of a baseball player, but made the all star team because his dad knew people, pissed me off because I wasted him and didn’t get picked that year. That was the last time that happened, the next year … we advanced to the league outside of local “politics”, I started, made the all-star team and we advanced to state … he quit. On the other hand, he was one of my better friends in elementary school, go figure. The second Mark was a really good pitcher … for a 7th grader. And if he looks anything like he used to look, he’s a total hunk.

Teri Lynn … She was my buddy’s girlfriend. Tall, blonde and beautiful. She taught me that beautiful girls could also be nice people.

Sharyl … We knew each other in Tennessee, and then we both ended up in my home state, where years later I found out that at one point she actually dated one of my good friends here …it’s a small freaky world. Sharyl looked like Olivia Newton-John and was the first girl whose dress I looked up … though it really wasn’t just me. Mark noticed it first, Jeff and I joined, actually pretty much every guy in the class did eventually … we were in English class at the time. Made a mental note … when I’m made right, keep my knees together when I’m wearing a short dress !

Liz … She was quiet, and really smart. I always feared her in the spelling bee.

Donald … Over all the years, my best friend from those days of youth.

Jan … The first girl to laugh at me to my face.

Ronald … You always wanted him on your side if you were in a fight.

Steve … He moved to town one year. He stuttered. I didn’t want him to feel alone, so I started talking with him. We ended up becoming really good friends. We spent a lot of time watching television or playing baseball. The first would become a continuing theme in my life !! His dad was the best little league umpire ever.

All these people and many more were important players in my life at one time … and I haven’t thought or spoken to any of them (except Sharyl), in probably like … 25 years.

And I probably will never talk or e-mail with any of them again.

I wonder if I’ll be saying something similar in 25 years after going to LongLostMates.com.

Epilogue: You know what really makes me laugh me ass off … the thought that if any of my friends of yore are doing such a post someplace … when then come to my name … some of the really funny krap they could say if they only knew me now ! πŸ™‚

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8 Comments

  1. LOL Wow !! That’s too kewl Kara !! Wild how some things in life just happen like that …

    I know statistically speaking, I should be the only transsexual in my high school graduating class (about 400 people) … but there has to be others from my school with equally unexpected courses in life.

  2. Funny, I too was on Classmates earlier this week and was scanning through some of my college classmates/teammates. I ran into a picture of this tall woman I used to know who played basketball. I sent her a note asking how she was doing and of course giving her a little info about my “new name”. I told her I switched teams. She wrote back that if I switched “Teams”, then she switched “teams”. After college, she figured out she was a lesbian, has a wife and kid, and is now living in the Pacific Northwest. How cool, huh?

  3. Well iMom … if I looked as kute as you, I’d post a pic of myself on Classmates.com too !! Hey, you know … maybe I could just send you as my stand-in at my next reunion !! *pondering* πŸ™‚

  4. Enough of my class had found out about me, some from working at the same large company, that I didn’t have much choice. And, since I still live in the town I grew up in, it was an inevitability. So, I did post my new picture and name on Classmates.

    Funny story from that:
    I got an email from a classmate who apparently was going through a 12 step program. He must have been doing the ‘asking for forgiveness’ for an earlier transgression. He said he had helped some other boys when they beat me up some. Well, I forgave him, and I’m sure he’s feeling better about it. Funny thing is, selective memory had done its thing, and I don’t remember that at all. I know I got picked on some, especially late elementary and early middle school, but this one totally escapes me. I never knew what it was they were picking on me for, because there wasn’t any of that “faggot” stuff some girls get. No, I had done a pretty good job of hiding the things in my personality that would cause that, so I just don’t know.

  5. Heck, I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to go to my high school reunions when I was still a boy, I really can’t imagine I’ll go to anymore.

    That’s interesting about the pictures, names are okay for me to recall, but pictures I dislike too … it’s hard for me to look at pictures from before, either with me included or not … in fact, I only have a few that I have kept with me … one of my family, one of my Dad, Shaft and I sitting on a deck, and another of The UnUsual Suspects … I’ve removed the rest.

  6. Its a strange sensation, this looking back. It makes me sad, and curious.

    I tossed out all of my highschool yearbooks as we were cleaning out the attic the other day. I just do NOT want any reminders of the boy that was. It makes me feel jealous to see the girls in there just coming into their own, and me, NOT coming into MY own.

    Maybe I’ll go to my highschool reunion someday. Most probably I’ll just not.

    M

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