Ghosts from the past.

The line we all remember from Wayne’s W0rId II is, “Book them and they will c0me!” I feel a little bit like that is happening to me right now. No, I haven’t hired any bands to play at a rock concert, I haven’t really done anything much at all. But quite a while ago, on a whim because someone in the D-land chat room mentioned it, I joined Faceb00k, that website where you are connected to people you know. It’s a lot like Myspace, except that it’s like the bar Cheers: Everybody knows your name!

Since I’ve been a member there, my “friends” consist mainly of music department students, my kids, and other kids in the choir (who are not music students). About a year ago, a ghost from my past surfaced, a guy I dated when I was a university student (actually, we had connected because he found me on a music-union sanctioned site where I was advertising my copying skills, and he is the only person who has ever contacted me because of it) whom I met up with for an evening when Hubby and I were in Toronto visiting my mom. He joined Faceb00k and added me as a friend. Okay, I can dig it.

Then, about a month ago, another ghost from my past appeared. O.S. was friends with my older brothers and we all belonged to the same Zionist youth movement in Toronto. He went to the same high school I did (I think we overlapped by a year), and then went to the same university I did (he predated me there by about eight years) graduating with a music degree in education (he played bassoon). He became an itinerant music teacher in Toronto, and the last time I saw him was in about 1977 when he invited me to a performance by a community group of Guys and Dolls that he was directing.

Several years ago, his name came up because he is a miniature train enthusiast and he emailed The Duchess’ son (who has a website for hobbyists). The Duchess knew him from our alma mater, having actually been a classmate of his. I emailed him, but only got a cursory reply and nothing more. Then, about a month ago, he befriended me on Faceb00k, leaving me a message that he in fact does answer emails, it just takes a while.

The next thing I know, about a week ago, I got another friend request from E.P., someone whose name rang a very loud bell, but whom I couldn’t place for the life of me. I messaged him, asking how he knew me. It turns out that we were in high school together, we both sang in the choir, actually dated a few times, and that was it. You know, I get little tiny flashes of memory, but that’s it. He may as well be a stranger.

Then today there was another friend request in my box, this time from E.R., a guy I knew really well in high school, again sang in the choir, lived just a couple of streets over, and who had gone to my university after he finished a B.A. elsewhere to do a law degree. I saw him during my first week there, looking at some notice boards in the student union building, and promptly walked in the other direction so he wouldn’t see me. I just didn’t want to hang out with anyone I had known in high school.

So, after a couple of years of relative anonymity on Faceb00k, I am suddenly being assailed by people of my own generation. This wouldn’t be so bad, except that I graduated from high school in 1974. It was so long ago that it seems like everything that happened then was a dream, or happened to someone else. All my erstwhile colleagues stayed in the city of my birth and I left. They became doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs, and I became a singing teacher. What do I really have in common with any of them anymore, or ever, for that matter?

This is just too weird.

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