Geez. After deliberately going into hiding for a good chunk of my adult life, now I've done a complete 180 and am pimping myself all over the place! Ha!I signed up on MySpace late last night, and stayed up until 5:00 a.m. fiddling around with it. And I sent Jim B. a mail message through the system. Here's what it said:
DATE: Feb 4, 2009 3:48 AM
SUBJECT: The Ghost of Adolescence Past
BODY: Hi Jim, remember me? West Bethel Baptist Church and West Tech HS, mid-to-late '70s. I was the church pianist back then.
Last time I saw you was about a year after you joined the Army, in August 1980. We continued corresponding via letter until about the end of that year and then lost touch.
A year or two later I heard you'd been stationed in Korea and had married a Korean girl... and that's the last I ever heard about you.
Don't know if you're aware, but I've been trying to contact you over the past couple months or so. I've located you on LinkedIn, Twitter, and now here. You seem very different than I remember, but interesting. Sounds like you've had some impressive educational and vocational achievements over the years.
Would like very much to reconnect with you and catch up. How did you end up in Colorado? Family, children? How are your mom/siblings doing? I hear you're a published author; I'd like to know more about that. Interesting that you've become an Objectivist. How/when did this happen?
About me (short version): Happily single, no kids. Ended up in Chicago in mid-90s when I took a promotion with the telecom where I worked. My last position was Tariff Administrator, where I was responsible for coordinating the development of tariff filing packages for submission to regulatory commissions (FCC and state equivalents). Left company in late 2000 after a merger (did not want to relocate to Texas), with a very generous severance package, plus savings/investments, and have been happily goofing off ever since, although now I'm looking into some freelance writing opportunities and other self-employment type stuff.
Anyway, I hope to hear back from you. Was just looking at the "Old Stomping Grounds" folder in your pics and those really brought back some memories.
You can reply back here on MySpace, or else feel free to email me at XXXXXXXXXX or phone anytime at XXX.XXX.XXXX.
Take care.
I hope I hear back. If I don't, I will assume, once and for all, that he has no wish to have any contact with me whatsoever, and that will be that. I will make no further effort to reconnect with him.
But I do hope that's not the case.
I was looking through his collection of online photos last night and found a very interesting folder, titled "Some of My Old Stomping Grounds". The folder contained a bunch of pics, apparently culled from Google Maps Street View, of old places in Cleveland, different houses where he lived growing up (or vacant lots where the houses no longer exist), different schools, churches, including the church and high school I attended with him... and the old bar a block from the church, converted into additional Sunday School space, where he and I first met back in February, 1975.
Those photos brought back a lot of memories... of Sunday dinners... sleepovers... both good and hard times.
I wanted to comment on a few of the pics, and reminisce a little bit, but you have to be an approved friend to do so.
So I hope he's open to that. We'll see.
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