Had an interesting encounter today.

When I was out in Wisconsin for my mother's memorial, I was taken aback when a man came out to me and said that it was good to see me. I had the feeling that it was probably good to see him too, but I wasn't sure who he was. When he introduced himself, my suspicions turned out to be correct. He was Kenny Sperry, who lived in the house kitty-corner from ours when I was a kid. I had only seen him twice since high school, and each time it was very fleeting. The last time had been close to twenty years ago, so I guess it was forgiveable that I didn't immediately recognize him. We talked very briefly, because he had just dropped by to pay his respects and couldn't stay for the memorial. I asked him if he had an e-mail address and when he answered "yes," I asked him to write it down for me.

Today, I finished writing a section of the memoirs I'm working on that I thought he'd relate to, and dug up his e-mail address. When I couldn't read it, I went on the internet, found his phone number and gave him a call. A woman answered the phone, and I introduced myself. The woman was very friendly, and told me that Kenny had just gone up north for the weekend. I hesitated to say, "Is this you, Janice?", because I haven't spoken to her since we were in the same home room together in high school. I knew that Kenny married Janice and always thought he was a lucky dog. But, marriages being as fragile as they tend to be, I thought it wise not to ask that question. She might answer, "NO, this is Brenda, not that BITCH!, He dumped her a long time ago!" You never know. But, she said, very warmly, "This is Janice." And I breathed a sigh of relief. It's good to know that marriages occasionally can last. They've been married over 50 years, from my best calculations.

The problem is, talking with Janice, I could only invision here as the 17 year girl in my home room. We could pass on the street and not recognize each other. There is something strange about attaching a 54 year old memory onto someone's voice. I wonder if I still am the skinny, gawky, uncertain kid she kenw when I was 17?

Anyone have that kind of experience?

And, only 35 more posts, and jimmyt will stop in again.

Get your blundebuss ready, Elmer!

Jerry