growth and change.

these past couple of weeks, it seems that fate has decided to plague me with fits of nostalgic moments, not so much of the events that occured in elementary to junior-high school, but rather the people. chatting with an old classmate i re-discovered through thefacebook.com, we wondered what our old class of '96-ers were doing nowadays, and even more unfathomable, what the people who left school before our seventh or eighth grades were up to now... some of whom transferred to [the unknown, exotic world of] public schools in the surrounding area, and others who even relocated to other states. of course, once we hadn't heard back from someone for three months or so, we [as most others do,] naturally assumed they had died. talking with my old classmate and hearing news about those long since and sadly forgotten for eight years and more was like breathing life into the dead. i was connected with news of what colleges people attended after high school, who graduated, where they were now, and if any had returned to san francisco. unfortunatelly, there were people still unaccounted for, as inevitability would have it. what happened to those i used to hang out with, i wondered... those i'd play four-square or handball with, guys i antagonized or feared, and girls i couldn't stand or secretly had crushes on. where'd they all go, and as always, the million-dollar questions, who got married and who had children?

what a small world we live in. as kim went up to sacramento for a conference, she just happened to run into two old classmates i hadn't seen nor heard about in over eight years. what has happened in their lives, i immediately thought. what interesting adventures have they gone on, and how had they changed? i for one, know i've changed. for starters, and emphasizing physical appearance (becasue that's apparently the most important aspect of a person), i hardly look like how i did in junior high. i weigh less now than i did in sixth grade and stand about six inches taller. attending a mini-reunion three years after graduation with a classmate who lived across the street, i mingled unrecognized for the first several minutes of the party until introducing myself. apparently, everyone simply thought i was just a random high school friend of the classmate i went with. funny how people change.

it is an odd thing, but every one who disappears is said to be seen at san francisco.
it must be a delightful city, and possess all the attractions of the next world.
: wilde.